“By increasing the surface burned in winter, we reduce the surface likely to be burned in summer”: when firefighters set fire to the mountain to prevent fires

A small drop of gasoline, a spark on top, and the ferns immediately burst into flames. A band, then soon two, and three, burn on the slope of the Col de Larnat, above the eponymous commune. In a postcard setting, under the cool winter sun, the firefighters dressed all in yellow progress through the vegetation frozen by the cold, feeding but monitoring the small flames which clean the ground: they are in the middle of an emergency operation. eco-burning, or controlled burning, on behalf of the pastoral group which entrusted them with 30 hectares to clean in complete safety.

Throughout the winter, the SDIS 09 carries out these actions of voluntary burning of standing vegetation in areas that are rather difficult to access, such as in upper Ariège or Couserans. If this practice is traditional among mountain breeders, firefighters also do it for the purposes of prevention and anticipation. “By increasing the surface burned in winter, we reduce that likely to be burned in summer,” explains Colonel Olivier Blanco. Hence the interest in working in winter, with favorable conditions where we can control the fire, rather than to mobilize human and material resources in the summer in an emergency, in an area that we do not know, for a large-scale fire.”

So, the firefighters are meeting this Thursday morning in Larnat for controlled burning. The conditions are favorable: frozen ground, average wind, average but not bad air quality index, satisfactory humidity, even if clouds pile up over the valley and bring humidity. “The snow there will be useful to us, it acts as a natural barrier. Generally speaking, we rely on natural elements to contain the fire,” explains Patrick Antoniutti, head of the Tarascon center. One of its firefighters agrees: “All along, we made a 1.50 meter wide trench where there are no ferns, the fire will die on its own.”

A burning season that extends from fall to spring

In the prescribed burning team, there are 25 of them who can carry out this mission: “To become a burner, it is training that takes time: first, we have one week for the first module, then to become head of construction site, it’s 15 days Finally, you have to have done 5 years in prescribed burning to be able to do the tactical fire training”, explains the head of the Tarascon site.

Once you have become a burner firefighter, the burning season begins in September, to see which sites can be opened: “At that time, we also tell the petitioners who asked us to clean up a little.” When the weather becomes suitable for burning, the firefighters contact the owners of the plots, with a complete weather update the very morning of the operation. Once the conditions are met, “we light a test tube, to see how the fire behaves, and from there we light the site, against the wind.” Once the operation is completed, the firefighters ensure that the edges are extinguished and the few fires that may remain, but without risk of spreading, remain under the supervision of the petitioner.

If the practice is so common in Ariège, it is because the terrain requires it and it is quite often as a last resort that farmers use burning: “When we cannot clear brush on steep slopes, where the animals are not comfortable either or the plants do not suit them, it is better to burn as a preventive measure”, supports Colonel Blanco.

Each winter, around 500 hectares are burned by the SDIS and 500 burns are declared by farmers. “Ariège is at the forefront of this technique, which we have been implementing for more than 15 years,” says the senior fire officer. We also share our know-how with other firefighters, such as those from Ardèche, Hautes-Pyrénées, or even those of Catalonia, and we benefit from theirs.” This made it possible to reduce by 60% the surface area destroyed by fires in the summer: which shows that the scorched earth policy is good.

A highly regulated practice

Each year, a prefectural decree governs the practice of burning. Because very often, it is the farmers or foresters who do it themselves, for better or worse. It is not uncommon for some undeclared burning to escape the control of the lighter: this is why sub-prefect Delphine Lemaire insists, “it must be declared”. “The point of the declaration is that we control the fire, to prevent it from burning for hours without control.” She also underlines the fact that when fires are declared and recorded, firefighters can also reassure people who see the smoke and are worried about a fire starting.

“For professionals, in particular agricultural and forestry operators as well as river unions, operating within a regulated framework, the use of fire outside the total ban period (June 1 to September 30) is subject to declaration,” recalls the prefecture. The requests, which are dematerialized, are studied by the town hall, the unit which brings together firefighters, the gendarmerie, state services and even forestry organizations. Some territories even have a local wastewater commission (CLE), which reduces the time taken to study the request to 15 days.

To raise awareness of good practices, training is also offered by the Chamber of Agriculture, in conjunction with all the organizations involved in waste burning. They last two days, divided into a day of theory and a day of practice. In this way, farmers and foresters learn when, where and how to safely set fire to brush; and above all, who to warn that such an operation is going to be carried out.