The mines are a little less serious even if nobody cries victory. Since July 12, the Gironde firefighters, supported by sappers from all over France, have been fighting tirelessly day and night against two particularly virulent fires which have already devoured nearly 21,000 hectares of pine forests. Some 2,000 firefighters are mobilized on these fires of a new magnitude.
A detachment from the Ile-de-France column, for example, arrived as reinforcements on the night of July 13 to 14 under the command of Lieutenant Jean-Paul Vallette who has four vehicles under his responsibility. This Wednesday, the company is tracking the slightest resumption of fire in the Landiras sector, in the South of Gironde, anxious not to lose the advantage when for the first time in eight days, the intensity of the blaze is down. .
In this sector where more than 13,000 hectares have gone up in smoke as we get closer to the heart of the fire, it is a disaster landscape that is essential. The pines are charred but still standing on acres, ash has replaced the sand at their feet. The whole thing gives a gloomy look to these forests. “We are pre-positioned in high-risk sectors, and as soon as there is a fire start, this allows us to intervene very quickly and prevent it from spreading and protecting homes, which remains the priority of the mission. firefighters”, explains Lieutenant Jean-Paul Vallette. Several surrounding towns were evacuated, and crossing them, we feel that their occupants left hastily, taking care to close the shutters but leaving, for example, the children’s toys spread out in the garden. Time seems suspended there.
“We needed it, it arrived in time”
We arrive alongside the firefighters in an area of Louchats, 15 km from Landiras, where thick gray smoke escapes from the ground. “We are assigned to a geographical sector and we preposition the vehicles, details the lieutenant. We intervene even when there is no fire because it can go very quickly, depending on the position of the fumaroles [petit panache de vapeur sortant de terre]. If it is a fumarole in the green and close to a house, we intervene very quickly. »
It confirms a beginning of calm linked in particular to a loss of ten degrees in 24 hours. “That’s what makes it possible to stare a little bit at the fire,” he says. We breathe a little, it’s good for morale and the body. We needed it, it arrived in time. “The pace is very steady for firefighters who can take “rather limited” rest time in Louchats, whose multipurpose room has, for example, been fitted out for them. We can see small groups sitting in folding seats taking a little rest and eating.
“We went down to give a hand to our colleagues from Gironde, it is with great pleasure that we do so. But, this implies a fairly high work intensity, ”summarizes Lieutenant Jean-Paul Vallette. The firefighters are careful not to cry victory and continue their watch, painstaking work on this immense forest massif. In two hours on Wednesday afternoon, they intervened four times in the only sector assigned to them.