France firefighters battle 'the fire of the century' in hot, dry, windy weather
Nearly 200 sq. km of land burned, 40,000 people forced to flee in ongoing Gironde blaze
After a week on the frontlines of what he describes as the fire of the century, Rémi Lassoureille and his fellow firefighters are exhausted.
But their work is far from over, as the flames — which have already consumed over 19,000 hectares (190 square kilometres) of forest and forced thousands of people to flee — continue to ravage southwestern France.
"That's really, really, really a catastrophic spread with a very high flame with an intense heat," Lassoureille, a captain with the Service Départemental d'Incendie et de Secours (SDIS) 33 in Bordeaux, told As It Happens guest host David Cochrane.
"We need all our strength to fight and to keep our mind in the good direction, to make the necessary choice to fight and to win against the elements."
Since July 12, more than 2,000 firefighters and 10 water-bombing planes have been working around the clock to contain two huge fires in the Landiras and La Teste-de-Buch forests in France's Gironde region.
Thick clouds of smoke and the risk of flames spreading to buildings have forced the evacuations of more than 39,000 people, including 16,000 on Monday, Gironde authorities told The Associated Press. A smaller third fire broke out late Monday in the Medoc wine region north of Bordeaux, further taxing regional firefighting resources.
Extreme weather conditions fuel the fire
According to Lassoureille, this year's combination of extreme heat, low humidity and swirling winds have contributed to the rapid spread of the flames.
"We [are] used to fight against fire, but never like this," he said. "Each year, we have a lot of forest fires. But this one, we have very, very specific and unique fires, [with] such a dynamic and the fire's spread that we have never, never known before in our own area."
And thanks to a changing climate, these combustible conditions are becoming more frequent.
"The combination of historically low humidity, very high temperature and turning winds is specific. But what we can say is that we meet this condition really regularly," Lassoureille said.
Like elsewhere in Europe, France has been experiencing a historic heatwave, with temperatures in Paris topping 40 C in the past week for the third time since record-keeping began, according to Meteo France.
Southwest of Bordeaux, the fire is spreading to the Arcachon Bay, an area famous for its oysters and beach resorts. The approaching flames forced the emergency evacuation Monday of 363 animals from a local zoo, where about 10 animals died of heat and stress, the government's ecological transition ministry said Tuesday.
Five campsites also went up in flames in that area, Gironde authorities said.
Lassoureille said the firefighters are working with local forestry experts to contain the fire. The community around Bordeaux, where he is stationed, has also stepped up to help with the evacuation process.
"All people in the area around Bordeaux [are] engaged to give some support," he said.
Despite dedicating all available resources to put out the Gironde fires, Lassoureille says it's not clear how much longer the fight will last under current conditions.
And the work won't stop at putting out the fire. "We will have a very, very long period … to treat all the fire [perimeters] to avoid new fires in these places, and to ensure the population to come back in their houses, in security," he said.
Residents of more than a half-dozen towns and villages in the Gironde region were ordered to evacuate due to the fires.
Written by Olsy Sorokina with files from The Associated Press. Interview with Rémi Lassoureille produced by Arman Aghbali.
