GIRONDE FIRES. In La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras (Gironde), the fire continues to progress and continues to gain ground. The origin of a fire has been clearly identified. What is the human and ecological balance sheet? How are the fires progressing? The latest info.
9:42 p.m. – Gérald Darmanin pays tribute to Greek and Italian relief
On Twitter, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, thanked the Greek and Italian relief workers for their active participation in reducing the fires affecting the south of France: “Thank you to our Greek and Italian friends for their support in the fight against the forest fires that are currently affecting our territory. Thanks to the ????????RescEu device, two additional planes are already engaged alongside our firefighters. Two more will be very soon.”
Thank you to our Greek and Italian friends for their support in the fight against the forest fires that are currently affecting our territory. Thanks to the ????????RescEu device, two additional planes are already engaged alongside our firefighters. Two more will be added very soon. pic.twitter.com/fXQrhNsegz
— Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) July 15, 2022
21:11 – Devices of the Greek rescue forces in support of the French firefighters
Emmanuel Macron reported on his Twitter account that “this noon, devices from the Greek rescue forces arrived in the south to support the action of our firefighters”.
8:40 p.m. – Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the firefighters
On his Twitter account, Emmanuel Macron paid tribute to the firefighters mobilized to fight the forest fires in the south of the country: “Solidarity is national: three thousand firefighters from all over France are fighting the fires that are hitting the south of the country. I salute their courage and their commitment alongside elected officials. At the front, they save lives. We are thinking of them and of the evacuated residents.”
Solidarity is national: three thousand firefighters from all over France are fighting the fires that are hitting the south of the country. I salute their courage and their commitment alongside elected officials. At the front, they save lives. We are thinking of them and of the evacuated residents. pic.twitter.com/010dDFNGkt
—Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) July 15, 2022
20:10 – The prefect of Gironde took stock of the situation in Landiras at
At the end of the afternoon, the prefect of Gironde, Fabienne Buccio, took stock of the situation in Landiras: “We have put all the airborne resources we have on Landiras in order to stop this progression. There is a sparse residential area, so all night the firefighters fought to protect the homes.We deplore a burnt house. [La situation] going to continue until at least tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, the time we manage to fix the fire.”
7:40 p.m. – The fire is slowed down but not stopped at Teste-de-Buch
This Friday evening, the prefect of Gironde gave a new update on the fire at La Teste: “The fire has been blocked, slowed down, but it is not yet completely stopped.” For the moment, 3,150 hectares of forest have gone up in smoke.
7:20 p.m. – According to Jean-Luc Gleyze, the criminal origin of the fire in Landiras “is not really a surprise”
At the microphone of BFM TV, the president of the department of Gironde, Jean-Luc Gleyze explained that the criminal origin of the fire in Landiras “is not really a surprise”. He reported that “a fire was declared a few hundred meters from the current one, a few days before on the village of Guillos, and managed to be extinguished fairly quickly”. This is why, according to Jean-Luc Gleyze, “in terms of starting a fire, he could suggest that there was a correlation between the first and the second fire”.
7:00 p.m. – Balance sheet unchanged: still 4,700 hectares of forest destroyed in the Landiras sector
At the end of the afternoon, the prefecture of Gironde indicated that the balance sheet on the Landiras sector remains unchanged: 4,700 hectares of forest have been destroyed. In addition, the prefecture informed on the means implemented in the sector and the evolution of the situation on the spot: “A Dash and three canadairs were in action this afternoon. Nearly 1,900 people will therefore have been evacuated in all in this sector. The progression of the fire is in the direction of Louchats and the wind is picking up, more critical hours are coming.”
18:39 – The village of Louchats is being evacuated
The town of Louchats, in Gironde, is being evacuated, informed the prefecture of the department. 600 people are affected.
18:17 – All air resources are made available to Landiras fire
To fight against the forest fires in Landiras, the prefect of Gironde has decided to make available all the aerial means of the department, as she announced in a press release: “All the aerial means available in the department, namely one Dash and three Canadair are now deployed on Landiras.”
6:05 p.m. – Where are the progress of the fires in Gironde?
Concretely, how are the two fires that affect the Gironde progressing? An interactive map offered online by NASA references fires around the world, and therefore, those that affect France and particularly the southwest. What better to realize the advance of the flames in the direction of the south and the Landes, in particular for that of La Teste-de-Buch (on the left of the image).
5:58 p.m. – At La Teste, the fire “slowed down but not fixed”
During a new press briefing held at 5:30 p.m., the prefect of Gironde indicated that “the conditions are more favorable than yesterday at La Teste. Also, the fire could be slowed down, but it is still not fixed” , as relayed Republican South Gironde.
5:52 p.m. – The fire in La Teste-de-Buch linked to the fire of an electric car
During an exchange with the press this Friday at the end of the day, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne indicated that the origin of the fire which broke out in La Teste-de-Buch is linked to an electric car. “It’s an electric car that caught fire,” said the Matignon tenant simply, from Calvados where she was traveling.
17:09 – Start of fire in Cazaux
Cazaux (Gironde), a town from which 4,000 people were evacuated on Thursday, is the scene of a resumption of fire, this Friday, located near the fire in La Teste-de-Buch. The wind and the strong heat caused this return of the flames. 4 planes, including 3 canadairs, are mobilized to contain the fire.
16:48 – In Landiras, an arson attack?
Is the fire that broke out in Landiras of criminal origin? This is the track towards which the parquet floor of Bordeaux (Gironde) is turning, as learned South West and Republican South Gironde. “In the state of the investigations, the criminal thesis is privileged concerning the fire of Landiras” announces the prosecution. “All avenues are still being explored but the first technical and scientific police elements, in particular the material findings, and testimonies allow us to move towards a criminal thesis”, he added. The fire reportedly started from a side of the road.
4:30 p.m. – How are the firefighters trying to contain the two fires in Gironde?
How to manage to contain the fire and its destructive power? This is the task that firefighters in Gironde have been busy with for several days. In an attempt to slow the spread of the flames, the firefighters are carrying out staking actions, in other words “framing” the fire. The spokesperson for SDIS 33 evokes a “grip on the flanks of the disaster”. Operations supported by “regular and fairly significant” Canadianir strikes on the front of the fire, the objective being to stop its advance. To multiply the actions of this type, the canadairs refuel in the lake of Cazaux, located very close to the fire of La Teste-de-Buch.
Where are the fires that broke out in Gironde and where are they spreading to? First, a first fire is located in the west of the department, in the town of La Teste-de-Buch, near Arcachon, along the Dune du Pilat and the Atlantic Ocean. The fire is heading south, towards Landes and the town of Biscarosse. Further east, the second fire started from Landiras, 45km south of Bordeaux. There too, due to weather and wind conditions, the flames are heading south.
At this stage, the two fires that broke out in Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch (Gironde) did not claim a single victim. No one has been injured or died so far. Only the vegetation burned. These forest fires nevertheless led to the displacement of more than 11,000 people across the department.
The fires broke out on Tuesday July 12 at 3 p.m. around the towns of Landiras and Teste-de-Buch, both located in Gironde. In La Teste-de-Buch, the start of fire is linked to an electrical problem which occurred on a car which caught fire on track 214 near the road to the ocean beaches confirmed Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne on Friday. In Landiras, the cause is not yet known but the criminal track is strongly considered by the investigators indicated the parquet floor of Bordeaux, Friday.