The improvement is confirmed. The situation is “now favorable” in Gironde on the front of the fire which broke out on Monday in Saumos, the prefecture said on Thursday, according to which the burned area, estimated at 3,720 hectares, “could be reassessed during the day” .
“The mobilization of firefighters from Gironde and other departments, supported by significant air resources, made it possible to contain the fire in Saumos”, completes the prefecture in a press release.
Nearly 1,840 people were evacuated
However, it considers it premature this Thursday noon to allow the return to their homes of the 1,840 people evacuated in the municipalities of Saumos and Saint-Hélène, in the south of the Médoc between the seaside resort of Lacanau, on the Atlantic coast, and the Bordeaux urban area. . “The evacuated residents are called upon to be patient, the conditions not yet being met at this time for reintegration”, specifies the prefecture. But announcements could come at the end of the day.
After having progressed strongly for thirty-six hours, the fire has slowed its course since Wednesday and has not progressed during the night, during which the weather conditions “were favorable” to the firefighters, according to Lieutenant-Colonel Éric Pitault, officer communication in Gironde. “The humidity level has risen above 95%. This rate will be above 50% all day, which is rather reassuring,” added the sub-prefect of Lesparre-Medoc, Fabrice Thibier, during a press briefing Thursday morning. The temperature has also dropped compared to the beginning of the week, which had recorded heat records in Bordeaux and in the region.
Forestry work to “avoid repetitions”
In the night from Wednesday to Thursday, “a new wind, coming from the west, directed the plume of smoke directly towards the Bordeaux conurbation”, which woke up with a strong smell of burning Thursday morning, indicates in a press release the Atmo Nouvelle-Aquitaine regional air observatory. “The department should expect the regulatory threshold for suspended particles to be exceeded” on Thursday and Friday, he adds.
A thousand firefighters remain mobilized, as well as volunteers from the Defense of Forests Against Fires (DFCI). Significant air resources were deployed (six Canadair, three Dash planes and two water bomber helicopters).
The work of the reconnaissance teams was slowed down Thursday morning by a “strong fog”, “dangerous” for visibility, according to Eric Pitault. In a phase of “stabilization of the fire”, forestry work is planned to “avoid resumptions”, added Fabrice Thibier, using eight bulldozers and four harvesters.
This disaster is the fourth of magnitude in Gironde this summer. Nearly 30,000 hectares had already burned since July during three gigantic fires, in La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras twice, in a context of historic drought.