For tens of thousands of firefighters across the country, July and August are synonymous with general mobilization.
One of our teams spent a day with those from the Pyrénées-Orientales, a department badly affected by drought and fire risks.
Follow the full coverage
The 8 p.m.
We have to move quickly, it’s a question of survival. Under cover, the firefighters are protected from the fire by a bubble of water. But this is just an exercise that must be repeated before each deployment.Repetition is done regularly in order to maintain reflexes. This is a safety maneuver when we no longer have any recourse and the fire is coming at us“, explains, in the video above, deputy head Jordi Bonnefille of the Prades Rescue Center in the Pyrénées-Orientales.
In this department, the fires of 2023 are still fresh in the memories. But the firefighters are ready to face them during this new season which still promises to be risky with the drought. For greater efficiency, units are already prepositioned near the forest massifs.When there are forest fires, we intervene more quickly, the objective is to intervene massively and as quickly as possible“, explains Captain Marie-Aude Martin, column leader and head of the Argelès-sur-Mer center.
And to save time, a new system has just been set up. It is a flexible tank of 120 m³ of water, the equivalent of about ten trucks. In five minutes, everything is ready. It takes about nine minutes to fill a tanker truck. About ten tanks will then be installed in the department to secure access to water, despite the drought.
“50% dead trees in places”
And to guide the troops on the ground, an aircraft can help them from the air to find the most accessible trails in the forest or indicate to them during a fire the areas that have become very dangerous because of the drought.We have several trees that have actually died. We recognize them by the difference in color: they are brown in green vegetation. About 50% of trees are dead in some places. We risk having a fire that will spread more quickly because there is more fuel available.“, explains Guy Delbart, Horus observer.
-
Read also
“It’s a band-aid for a few days”: rain does not quell concern in the Pyrénées-Orientales
To report possible emerging fires, in season, it carries out at least one flight per day. A strong tramontane or a proven risk may lead to several flights. Furthermore, a drone pilot firefighter equipped with a thermal camera flies his device either after a fire to visualize its spread and the damage, or during the fire to help the operations commander in his decision-making. This reinforced system has already paid off: a third fewer fires occurred last year.
