Is the exceptional becoming the norm? Four years after experiencing what was then presented as the worst forest fire, the Arcachon basin ignited again, in even more frightening proportions. The flames are more intense, more virulent, more unpredictable.
They are devouring the landscape at a speed never seen before in France: 42,000 hectares ravaged between Wednesday and Sunday afternoon, while the fire was not fixed and threatened the outskirts of the Bordeaux metropolis. The heat of the last few days and the heatwaves of June and July which dried out the soil and vegetation explain the intensity of the disaster. Added to this are new, worrying phenomena, such as these convective fires, so powerful that they generate their own wind and feed themselves.
Exceptional mobilization
It will be time to learn the lessons of this episode, when the flames have been extinguished. There will be many questions about our firefighting doctrine, the place of prevention, the future of buildings on the edge of the forest, the tourism model in areas at risk, insurance systems for disaster victims… There will be no easy solutions, the scale of the disaster requires us to remain humble.
But now, we must above all salute the exceptional mobilization of state services, that of firefighters, soldiers and internal security forces, engaged to fight against the flames and to protect property and people. No civilian casualties were reported yesterday afternoon, but 75 firefighters were injured. The work of the mayors too, and their teams, as well as the numerous volunteers who shelter and calm the 220,000 people sheltered, without a date for returning home but without the slightest movement of panic. Without this human barrier, made up of thousands of acts of solidarity, this would not have been possible.
