“A few years ago, we didn’t think it was possible to have forest fires in Normandy. We get caught up in reality. » Emmanuel Chanclou, forestry technician for the ONF, made this observation in 2023, a year after the scorching summer of 2022, during which nearly a thousand hectares of vegetation were consumed in 2022 in the region. . With the increase in drought episodes, “the five departments of Normandy, which one might have thought spared, are now also faced with the risk of forest and vegetation fires”, confirmed the prefecture on May 2, 2024.
Since then, firefighters have armed themselves to face these new risks. Creation of dedicated sectors, full-scale training and exercises, adapted resources… At the start of May, they will have a new tool at their disposal. The Dreal (Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing) and the Draaf (Regional Directorate for Food, Agriculture and Forestry) have developed the first Norman atlas of forest fires and vegetation, “to better understand and prevent risk” And “identify the most exposed areas”.
Read also: Training, resources, exercises… Orne firefighters facing the “emerging risk” of forest fires
Around thirty “high risk” massifs
To build this atlas in the form of an interactive map, the two authorities have “assessed the risk of forest and vegetation fires by combining the hazard (the natural phenomenon) with the challenges: loss of residential, economic, tertiary and institutional buildings, infrastructure, etc. As well as environmental or heritage sites, etc. »
This atlas, which takes climate change into account “by 2050”, and was carried out with multiple stakeholders, including the DDTM (Departmental Directorates of Territories and the Sea), the ONF (National Forestry Office), the Sdis (Departmental Fire and Rescue Services), the prefectures, etc.
We learn in this atlas that a “thirty forest massifs” is at high risk, and “nearly 300 massifs of more than 20 ha stand out as having a risk greater than or equal to moderate”, throughout Normandy (which has 420,000 ha of wooded areas, or 14% of the region).
The atlas can be consulted by clicking on this link.
