REPORTAGE. Fires in Gironde: “As soon as there is a resumption of fire, we go there”, in immersion with firefighters in full action in Landiras – franceinfo

Charred trunks and smoking roots litter the burned perimeter of the Landiras massif. Along the track, dozens of prepositioned tank trucks. Posted in front of them, firefighters, black with soot. “I’m going to ask you to be very careful, we stay together and you listen to me, says a firefighter. There are vehicles that are lugging around and rolling, so it can be dangerous.” >> Follow the evolution of the fires in Gironde in our live In Gironde, on the front of La Teste-de-Bush, near the Dune du Pilat, as on that of Landiras, about forty km south of Bordeaux, the fire is still not fixed on this Monday, July 18 and has continued to regain ground the day before. In total, the two fires in Gironde have burned more than 14,000 hectares of forest since Tuesday July 12. Including around 9,000 in Landiras, where firefighters had to deal with many late departures throughout the day. #Gironde: Near the town of Louchats, fires are numerous at the beginning of the afternoon and the evolution of the weather for tomorrow is very unfavorable. 44° C expected and a wind turning at 60 km/hour. Tomorrow will be very complicated. pic.twitter.com/W49RSqQzDM — Gilles Gallinaro (@GallinaroG) July 17, 2022 “To David, you can treat the recovery there, I have already treated a lot of strains here on the edge treatment”, launches Sergeant Godet in the walkie-talkie. This firefighter came as reinforcements from Charleville-Mézières in the middle of the night. “We arrived at 3 a.m., we hit the road yesterday afternoon”, slipping to fight the flames relentlessly for seven hours now: “As soon as we have a recovery, we go there.” Like him, wrapped up in their uniforms, the soldiers of the fire run between the patches of burning vegetation. Dozens of homes are waking up. “The fire starts there in the roots, often underground, explains Sergeant Godet. Firefighters water the earth and the roots to avoid resumption of fire, in Landiras on July 17, 2022. (ROMANE BRISARD / RADIO FRANCE) Under the pressure of the water, the orange flames turn into a cloud of white smoke. The sergeant is sweating despite the temperature being 38°C. “We have no choice, we have what it takes, he explains. The population is quite generous, we are brought bottles of water regularly and we recover fairly quickly. We are ready to leave immediately , there is no problem.” Courage, determination, it takes to stay in this burning landscape for twelve hours. “If we have to do more, we will do more. There is no problem with that.” Sergeant Godet at franceinfo Yet another fire starts again, bigger than all the others. The sky turns opaque, darkens, and ashes swirl in the unbreathable air. The firefighters pat each other on the shoulder, encourage each other. You have to leave the area: an apocalyptic landscape then passes. “We’ve been driving at 80 km/h for five minutes already and we see that the whole landscape on our right has been burned,” shows a firefighter. As far as the eye can see, thousands of charred trees, thousands of hectares have gone up in smoke. The fight promises to be just as intense today. Wind gusts rotating at 60 km / h are expected in Landiras and a temperature of 44 ° C. #Fires in #Gironde: At the gates of Louchats, the fire ravaged the vegetation. The town was evacuated yesterday. pic.twitter.com/Xu14mk7qGF — Gilles Gallinaro (@GallinaroG) July 17, 2022