In just one week, two fires have destroyed nearly 20,000 hectares in the south-west of France, forcing thousands of people to evacuate, making it the worst season in the past thirty years.
Plumes of black smoke continue to obscure the sky above La Teste-de-Buch, at the foot of the Dune du Pilat, and in Landiras, about forty kilometres south of Bordeaux.
Despite the use of six Canadair water bombers, three other aircraft and the presence of around 1,700 fire fighters on the ground, these two fires have destroyed more than 19,000 hectares over the past week.
Around 37,000 people, many of them tourists, have been evacuated and are now staying in emergency shelters.
The Ecology ministry reported on Tuesday that a dozen animals at the Arcachon Basin zoo died from heat and stress after they were evacuated on Monday.
An area nine kilometres long and eight kilometres wide was still ablaze near the Dune de Pilat, on Tuesday according to police.
The blaze was literally "blowing things up", such was its ferocity, said Marc Vermeulen, head of the local fire service. "Pine trunks that are 40 years old are bursting."
Local news reported that five campsites in the area around the dune have been destroyed, along with a restaurant and two houses. So far no deaths have been reported.
Not optimistic
The prefect of the Gironde department Fabienne Buccio was not optimistic for the coming days due to difficult weather conditions, with temperatures of up to 40 degrees, winds of more than 50 kilometres an hour and virtually no humidity.
Police said the cause of the fire at La Teste-de-Buch that had already destroyed 6,500 hectares was accidental.
Tests need to be carried out on a van, which was reportedly at the origin of the fire, but the area is not yet sufficiently secure to allow investigators to go there.
Unfavourable conditions
Meanwhile, in Landiras, 40 kms south of Bordeaux, around 12,800 hectares have been burnt twice the surface area of Bordeaux city -- the largest France has seen in 30 years.
"The situation remains very unfavorable, the fire progressing on different fronts", the police prefect warned in the latest press statement, adding that some 14,000 people had been evacuated.
Three houses and a mobile home were destroyed.
Due to a change in wind direction, a thick layer of smoke has now enveloped Bordeaux, with residents posting eerie photos of the city on social media overnight.
Bordeaux, 2h du matin. pic.twitter.com/RpC8AaksOv
— Marie (@mariedehayes) July 19, 2022
Criminal investigation
Police said they were investigating a possible criminal motive for the Landiras fire and a man was arrested on Monday night.
A witness said that he had "seen a fire starting and a car hastily leaving the scene," prosecutors said, indicating that "other departures from fires [were] observed in the same area on the same day".
Although lower temperatures are forecast for the coming days, it is expected to remain windy and there's no sign of rain for the next 15 days, according to the weather service.
"The only way for the fires to stop permanently is a change in the weather conditions," Sébastien Lahaye, former firefighter, told France Info, warning that "these fires are no longer controllable".
Access to the department's forests is temporarily prohibited while firefighters attempt to carry out clear cuts and "tactical" fires in a bid to slow the progression of the flames.
Brittany bakes
Elsewhere in France, already 1,400 hectares have burned in Finistère in the west of the country.
A major fire broke out on Monday in the town of Brasparts where over 200 firefighters are mobilised.
According to police, 517 people were evacuated. This fire which is ravaging the Monts d'Arrée is not yet under control. According to Mediapart website, these 1,400 ravaged hectares represent more than the total area of forest burned in Brittany since 2006.
