Major fires are still raging in Gironde, Aveyron and Maine-et-Loire. The spokesman for civil security, Commander Alexandre Jouassard, gives an overview of the organization of the relief effort, the fatigue of the firefighters and this extraordinary summer.
Are you very concerned about the situation on the forest fire front in France?
The fire in the Gironde is extraordinary, unusual and, moreover, worrying, it leads to the use of significant resources, land resources and air resources. Our absolute priority in this operation is to protect the population through evacuations. It has priority over switching off. Given the strength and speed of the fire, we cannot put it out immediately.
Does the resumption of the Landiras fire in the Gironde come as a surprise to you?
The answer has three parts. That a fire of 40 miles in circumference takes a long time to burn back up very regularly – sometimes a hundred a day – is nothing new to us, we expected it and we had a large number of staff at that party there. The second aspect recalled by the Delegate Prefect of the Gironde and the Minister of the Interior is that there is a correspondence of elements between the number of arson attacks in the Gironde, leading to the assumption that there are arsonists in the area. Third aspect, the soil is peat, especially peat, which can smolder, which can creep under the peat layer.
“We haven’t had this large number of fires in 20 years.”
Many departments are affected by fires this summer, has this never happened before?
We projected all of these fires on the national territory in the years 2030-2050 according to the IPCC report. In no case in the last twenty years have we had a multiplicity of fires throughout the territory as we have today. Areas like Morbihan had not seen such fires for a very long time.
How much area has already burned down in France this summer?
Since June 10, 2022, the start of the forest fire season in France, 39,000 hectares of forest and 9,984 hectares of crops and vegetation have burned, according to civil protection. So 50,000 hectares just for this summer.
There are no dead: a miraculous balance sheet…
There were no dead or seriously injured. We hope not to have any bad news in the next few days. Our teams work in difficult conditions at 40°C. We lost a firefighter who fell ill this summer. It’s not neutral for our teams. For comparison: in 1949 in the Gironde, a year that serves as a reference, there were 80 dead.
How many staff will be mobilized on the ground throughout France?
10,000 firefighters, professionals and volunteers, are mobilized throughout the national territory. They are reinforced by civilian security teams. There are more than 1,000 firefighters in the Gironde.
7 Canadair, 7 Dash and 6 helicopters
What about air cargo?
We have 12 Canadair, 7 Dash – these are the planes that are anti-drop – and 6 water bomber helicopters. They are all active. Due to the intensity of the interventions, it can always happen that an aircraft is temporarily grounded for maintenance and inspection purposes.
How is the reinforcement of the firefighters decided between the departments?
The first level is department specific. The Codis has the power to use its resources for its own benefit. The second element is the area. There are seven Defense and Security Zones (South, Southeast, Southwest, North, West, East and Paris). Each department escalates its requirements to its zone. They also have extra-zonal or national resources linked to conciliation between the staffs and the Cogic in Paris (operations center for inter-ministerial crisis management). National resources are directly in the hands of the Director General for Civil Security.
How are reinforcements dispatched to the Occitania firefighters who are between the Gironde and Aveyron fires?
Each SDIS provides the operational capacity of its department and will say, “I can provide 10, 15, 20 people” to integrate the column that will provide reinforcements to the fires.
New firefighters trained in wildfires
Are all firefighters sent as backup trained to fight wildfires?
Firefighters have been trained regarding the danger of wildfires. The initial objective was that they could integrate into the operational system when coming to the basins of southern and western France as reinforcements.
And how are the air resources distributed?
The air resources are attached to the base of the south zone. You are in Nimes. Organizational discussions take place and arbitrations are conducted by the General Director for Civil Security to find out how many planes to send to the Gironde or other ongoing fire.
“France has the largest fleet in Europe”.
Does France have enough air resources?
France has the largest fleet in Europe. There is a clear desire – as the President of the Republic recalled during his trip to the Gironde – to further increase this fleet. For two years we have had a significant increase in the fleet. We went from 2 to 7 Dash and will have 8 by the end of 2023. For Canadairs, you should know that there is no longer a Canadair manufacturer, but there is a will from the European Union to order Canadairs additional resources for France through the European Civil Protection Mechanism. In September there will be a reflection in this direction. At the same time, in September, the reflection on the terrestrial means will take place to learn how to better equip the departments with forest fire engines.
Is it planned for France to use European funds to fight the fires?
We already did that in the summer because Greek Canadairs came as reinforcements. We don’t forbid ourselves anything. If we reach the capacity limits, we can call on the European civil protection mechanism.
Physical and mental wear and tear
Summer tries for firefighters with the propagation of fires …
The forest season started on June 10th. The teams have been working for two months because they are either working in their sector or have left as reinforcements. There is physical wear and tear that is present. They also have psychic clothing. The men are in contact with communities who are afraid for their homes, who are afraid of losing everything and who also fear for their lives. When firefighters get involved, it’s because they show empathy. You are obviously affected. Most of the people involved live in the area where they work. Girondin firefighters had to evacuate their families and go back to the fire. Leaders in this area put these considerations into practice and raise them where necessary to prevent them from taking unnecessary risks. Guys often don’t want to take off. There is also support from health and support services.
An assessment of these fires will be drawn in September?
It is in the DNA of civil security to give feedback, for example, after each summer with the ONF or Météo France. This work will obviously be carried out in September after such an exceptional summer as this, with us projecting towards the 2030-2050 risk that knocked on our door a little earlier than expected.