The organizer of a barbecue in the USAGE forest had settled in a sector bruised by the mega fires of 2022 in Gironde.
The summer of 2022 was infernal in Gironde, where nearly 30,000 hectares of forest left for long weeks of fighting uncontrollable fire. The very touristy sectors of La Teste-de-Buch, Landiras, Saumos and Arès had been particularly affected, around 50,000 people had been evacuated.
But some have short memory. A person was verbalized on Saturday April 12, 2025 to be the organizer in the evening … from a barbecue in the Usague Forest, near the Pilat dune, where the flames had wreaked havoc two and a half years, report our colleagues from Southwest. The barbecue has been prohibited from this sector near the Teste-de-Buch since a prohibited activity.
March and April are the most conducive months of fires
As Gironde prefecture recalls, “Gironde fires are more frequent During the month of March and April because of aggravating factors the risks “. This due to” the resinous essence of the maritime pines which make up the departmental forest “which is” highly flammable “, and because of the plants and ferns which” constitute a fuel that can spread fire at impressive speeds under the effect of the dry wind that blows in early spring “.
Also according to the prefecture, “the summer months are a second significant period due to the combined effects of drought and a low water content of plants, to which is added a high tourist frequentation of spaces”.
A regulation dated April 20, 2016, updated in 2023, lists a set of measures to limit the risk of fire. Organizing a barbecue in the middle of the forest is prohibited in the same way as burning in the open air of green waste, flying lanterns or fireworks fire. “It is prohibited, all year round, to transport or throw any object or support in ignition and to light fire in the open air in the exposed spaces of the predominantly forestry municipalities, including cooking lights on the ground or in mobile devices”, stipulates these regulations.
