Shrouded in smoke, Préchac, Uzeste and Bourideys, three villages in the first ring behind the line of evacuations are wondering. The questions went up a notch on Monday when neighboring Villandraut was evacuated. “Since then, it’s been madness,” breathes Béatrice, town clerk in Préchac, putting down the phone. It does not stop ringing. At the end of the line, worried citizens. “Are we going to be evacuated? There is a lot of smoke. »
In the town hall of Préchac, this Tuesday. While the secretary photocopies the plans of the village, elected officials respond to calls from anxious residents.
EA-C.
The answer is invariable: “For the moment, we have no information. Stay calm. Do not worry. We will alert you. The town hall is filling up. Three elected municipal officials come to lend a hand. Béatrice photocopies the plans of the village of 6,000 hectares and a thousand inhabitants. “In case the order to evacuate falls. The calls follow the wind and the flashes: they increase according to the thickness of the smoke and with the announcement of the latest evacuations.
“Fishing for Info”
On the way to Langon, Michel Mortagne, the mayor, does not hide his annoyance. “We go fishing for information, because we have little. However, more and more concerned residents are asking us. Monday, with the mayors of Uzeste and Bourideys, we were invited to a meeting on the evacuation of Villandraut organized by the authorities, to find out how things are going. I met my municipal council and we toured the inhabitants of isolated places. »
In Uzeste, 400 inhabitants, the mayor, Éric Douence, is in the process of collecting the contacts of his constituents and juggling the telephone. “Yes, Madam, there is smoke. No, it’s not a new suspicious fire,” he replies to a 90-year-old lady who is “worrying” and would not like to “find herself in a gymnasium, on a bed on the floor”. “Villandraut was evacuated because of the fumes from Landiras. So when people see them coming to us, some panic. We keep up to date between elected officials, thanks to a WhatsApp loop that brings together all the mayors of the community of municipalities. And we try to appease our constituents. »
“Yes, Madam, there are smoke, answers a worried nonagenarian the mayor of Uzeste. No, it’s not a suspicious new fire. »
EA-C.
The end of the afternoon is announced, the smoke finally clears on Bourideys, sublime airial nestled in the middle of the pines. The 103 inhabitants live on the Landes border. In the town hall, the first magistrate, Michel Morlet, is tired: “I have not received any instructions, I calm people down as best I can. I tell them, “Yes, it’s worrying, but the tide is turning”. Since the beginning of the crisis, there has been no point between the authorities and the elected representatives of the sector, who are nevertheless people who can serve as relays. I don’t understand. »