More than 2,700 hectares of forest were destroyed by the two fires of Landiras (more than 1,500 ha) and La Teste (more than 1,200 ha) this Wednesday at the end of the afternoon. The fires which started in the early afternoon of Tuesday are still not under control and continue to spread in the pine massifs, while the department has been on orange alert for the heat wave since Wednesday.
Half of the national air resources mobilized
Nearly 6,500 people were evacuated to campsites near the Dune du Pilat (6,000) and in the village of Guillos (500). If the prefect does not announce additional evacuations, she declares that the inhabitants of Cazaux have been “pre-alert” and that the thousands of evacuated holidaymakers will not be able to return to the campsites this Wednesday evening. The Pilat dune, at the foot of which the fire is spreading, has been closed since Tuesday to avoid the influx of tourists in the area.
Very large resources are committed to deal with the violent fires. “Ten air resources are mobilized in total, that is half of the resources at the national level, specified the prefect. The planes act in a row to stabilize the head of fire”. About 700 to 800 firefighters are battling the fires. We know that it was a truck accident that caused the fire in the Teste sector, but an investigation will have to determine what happened in South Gironde.