Restaurateurs and the Mont Faron animal park have opened an online petition to request compensation on days when the massif is placed on red fire alert.
As the forest fire season approaches in the Var, Mont Faron traders are worried about their summer season. Since the summer of 2023, the mountain no longer benefits from an exemption from access to its attractions and restaurants if the fire risk goes to red in the massif.
A hard blow for economic actors. Last year, Mont Faron was closed for 16 days in the summer. Now, traders are demanding compensation for the lost working days and have launched an online petition.
“It’s a lot of cash that you don’t get during the season,” explains Patrick Behrendt, owner of the restaurant “Le Drap d’Or”. “It’s super important in the months of July and August for the rest of the year.”
“We are in the dark,” he adds. “We understand very well that there is a fire risk, but we must be compensated to be able to continue our activities.”
“We’re going to tighten our belts”
This prefectural decision indeed creates a significant loss of income for traders. On the animal park side, same state of mind. The director fears possible financial difficulties for the proper functioning of the park.
“I risk not hiring for September or for the summer season,” confides Didier Jacquet. “I need an employee, I might not take him.”
“We still have fixed costs. As with Covid, whether we have 500 customers or zero, the animals eat the same thing,” he is keen to point out.
In this context, the animal park has no choice. “We will have to tighten our belts and we will not be able to invest to continue the work on the advancement of the lynx, etc…”
In their online petition, the traders therefore call on the municipality, the prefecture, but also the State to grant them compensation during red alert days for fire risk. The massifs are already starting to be affected by forest fires: this Saturday, June 29, a vegetation fire broke out south of Comps-sur-Artuby.
Enzo Hinsinger, with Juliette Moreau Alvarez
