Forest fire near Saint-Tropez: With 1200 emergency services against the flames

Strong winds further fueled the severe forest fires in southern France near Saint-Tropez. At least two people were killed and 20 injured. Thousands are in emergency shelters.

The sky turns deep red again over the Côte d’Azur, the forest fires on the peninsula of Saint Tropez are in full swing again. TV images show thick, meter-high columns of smoke rising into the sky. The Prefect of the Var department spoke of extremely strong fires that are now burning again and spreading rapidly.

If the situation had eased slightly in the morning, it is now critical again, says Carlos Zaglia, spokesman for the fire brigade on site: “The situation is turning again. We have wind that is picking up again, it comes from the southeast and fans the flames again Since the beginning of the fires, the wind has made our work difficult, it determines the direction of the fires. It is very difficult for us to foresee the development. “

Difficult fire fighting in the hinterland

In contrast to the past few days, the wind no longer only drives the flames towards the coast, but also into the hinterland. And so there is another problem for the emergency services: The terrain is rocky, hilly, many areas of the massif off the coast are not accessible by fire trucks or on foot. The fire can only be fought there with airplanes:

“This fire is one of the worst fires the region has experienced since 2003,” said French government spokesman Gabriel Attal. “More than 5000 hectares have already been destroyed, 7000 people had to leave their campsites, and more than 10,000 people in total were brought to safety.” The prefect called on all tourists and residents to stay in the emergency shelters.

Some have lost everything

The first extent of the flames is already evident. In the small town of La Garde Freinet, for example, which is halfway between the original fire site and the coast, many houses were destroyed by the flames.

Hortense, a resident, was just lucky again, but her neighbors lost everything in the fire: “I’m so incredibly sorry for them. All the people whose houses simply burned down. People who had to watch the flames burned less than 40 meters in front of their house. “

Nature reserve largely destroyed

An initial bitter balance of the fires can also be drawn in the La Plaine des Maures nature reserve. Large parts of the approximately 5000 hectare area have burned down. Marie-Claude Serra, responsible for the nature reserve, was able to get an overview: “It looks like a lunar landscape. And we found a lot of dead Greek tortoises. That is terrible, they are under nature protection. They died in a fire, you had nowhere to go. This is a disaster. “

It will be months before the reserve begins to recover, says Serra. And the danger is not averted, because more than 1200 firefighters and emergency services are still fighting against the newly ignited fires on the peninsula of Saint Tropez.