A fire broke out around 3 p.m. on Wednesday near Pointe-Bénédicte. This vegetation fire, fanned by a violent wind, quickly spread to threaten the buildings of the Martin-de-Viviés base. Due to a lack of resources to contain the disaster, the Austral boat was diverted at the request of the prefect in charge of TAAF to evacuate the 31 people who work on this island.
On Wednesday January 15, 2025, a fire forced the authorities to organize, with the assistance of the SAPMER boat (L’Austral), the evacuation of people who work on the island of Amsterdam.
This rescue operation had become essential given the speed at which the flames spread. In a press release, the senior administrative prefect of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF), writes: “On Wednesday January 15, 2025 around 3 p.m. local time (Amsterdam), a fire broke out near the scientific buildings located on Pointe Bénédicte, 2.5 km from the Martin-de-Viviès base on the Amsterdam Island (district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands) Favored by a wind coming from the southwest and despite the efforts made on site to contain it, the fire spread. to the vegetation towards the base.”
This relief operation took place this Thursday, January 16, 2025, at 6:30 a.m. It was orchestrated by the CROSS, with the support of the zone headquarters, the regional management of Météo-France and the SDIS. The transfer of base personnel to the SAPMER bunker, without incident.
The Marion-Dufresne, an IFREMER (French Institute for the Exploitation of the Sea) ship, will collect the people collected by L’Austral. The SAPMER vessel, specialized in lobster fishing, will continue its campaign once transshipment has been completed.
The operation is expected to take place on January 17 or 18, 2025, depending on weather conditions.
For the moment, the authorities have not specified the causes of this fire. An investigation should be opened. Furthermore, we do not know the extent of the disaster and whether any buildings at the Martin-de-Viviès base escaped the flames.
For the record, the island of Amsterdam is French. With Saint-Paul Island, they are the only two submerged parts of a small oceanic plateau, AMAEPF.fr tells us. They are approximately more than 2,800 km south-southeast of Reunion.
