The International Emergency Firefighters have just signed an agreement with five municipalities in the Causse Corrèze for the prevention of fire risks. These volunteer firefighters will carry out surveillance rounds in this particularly vulnerable sector. A first.
It is a risk which, every summer, comes to haunt the inhabitants of the communes of the Corrèze Causse: that of seeing a twig create a fire. In August 2020, in Lissac-sur-Couze, six hectares of forest went up in smoke.
“In 2022, we were very worried, because in my town and in nearby towns, we have a lot of wooded areas. The state of drought, combined with the heatwave and the wind was such that a spark could have had major consequences. Fortunately, we did not deplore any disaster, but we had to think about possibilities for fire prevention. It is undeniable that global warming will increase the risks,” explains Jean-Paul Fronty, Mayor of Chasteaux.
“Tackling a fire from the start means avoiding major fires like we have seen elsewhere,” adds his counterpart from Lissac-sur-Couze.Signature of agreement between five municipalities of the Causse and the PUI, in Chasteaux, Corrèze.
With the idea of strengthening risk prevention, the elected officials of Chartrier-Ferrière, Chasteaux, Lissac-sur-Couze, Estivals and Saint-Cernin-de-Larche found an innovative solution, by calling on the emergency firefighters international (PUI). Innovative, because usually, the association of volunteer firefighters, recognized by the UN, operates more abroad than on national territory.
How will this surveillance be structured?
A pick-up equipped for patrols
“It is the SDIS which will trigger the surveillance, depending on the period. When the SDIS sees that the period is really at risk, it will ask the PUI association to act upstream,” explains Jean-Paul Fronty, mayor of Chasteaux.
Through patrols and using drones, the association will increase the level of vigilance, to reduce intervention time in the event of a problem. “The system will be the same as when we respond to an earthquake or another intervention abroad. It will be in place from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and can be modified if necessary. In periods of very high risk, we plan to position the pick-up with a drone remote pilot. They will be positioned in Brive. The staff will take the vehicle and follow a surveillance circuit, based on a planned map,” explains Philippe Besson, founding president of the international emergency firefighters.
In Limoges, international emergency firefighters suspended from Morocco’s green light (2023)
The goal: to make regular stops. “At the slightest difficulty, we alert the SDIS and we make the first interventions. At the back of the pick-up there is a special kit for forest fires, with a reserve of 450 liters of water, and a high pressure pump that goes up to 40 bars. This allows you not to consume a lot of water by making a straight jet or a stick jet for the fire attack so as not to consume too much. 450 liters can go quickly. In addition to this high pressure lance, we can have a second lance,” explains Philippe Besson.
Raise user awareness
In addition to this active surveillance, the idea for the PUI is also to raise public awareness of fire risks during periods of drought. “The goal is to chat with people who walk in the massif. We plan to distribute flyers and pocket ashtrays for cigarette butts. »
Volunteers, the personnel mobilized on this system, active since the beginning of June, are active or retired firefighters who are all “forest fire” specialists.
Pierre Vignaud
