Nearly 21,000 hectares of forests went up in smoke in Gironde in July. And the toll could get worse. The department returned to red vigilance “forest fires” on Monday and “until further notice”, by decision of the prefecture of New Aquitaine and Gironde, relays franceinfo.
A “very high” alert level, at 4 out of 5, authorities said on Sunday. The prefect relies on the opinion of Météo-France, which forecasts favorable weather conditions for a fire to start. A decision also taken under the advice of the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS) and the Girondine Federation for the defense of forests against fires (FGDI).
The risk of fires is also accentuated by the forest fire which spread over 300 hectares in the forest town of Mano in the Landes on the border with the Gironde.
Several Restrictions
This level 4 vigilance imposes several restrictions such as the prohibition to park between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m. on forest tracks “and other paths open to the public in exposed areas”, specifies the prefect. In addition, “logging activities, silvicultural, civil engineering, service, carbonization and sawing activities are suspended between 1 p.m. and 10 p.m. Finally, recreational and sporting activities are prohibited except for those practiced at the leisure base and on stretches of beach.
Red vigilance “forest fires” had already been activated from July 14 in Gironde, two days after the start of two “non-standard” fires which devoured a total of 20,800 hectares of forest in La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras, forcing more than 36,000 people to leave their homes. In a context of calm with falling temperatures, the prefecture then announced on Wednesday the demotion of the department to orange vigilance (for “high”, level 3 out of 5).