As of July 13, the Pyrénées-Atlantiques firefighters received multiple calls indicating a strong smell of burning. It was actually the fumes from the smoke from the fires that have been ravaging the pine forests of Gironde since the day before, carried by the winds.
Since then, more than 7,700 hectares have gone up in smoke in the areas of La Teste-de-Buch and Landiras. And the smell, as well as the plume of smoke, crossed the borders of New Aquitaine.
After those of Tarbes, inhabitants of Gers, Ariège, but also from Aude smelled that burning smell. Something to panic some since the blazes are more than 300 km away.
But the firefighters of this department explain, after having Meteo-France online, that it is the wind that carries the smells, and sometimes even the clouds of smoke.