On Thursday night, firefighters were ready to fight a large fire in the north-central Gard. This was at the end a day that saw multiple fires started in this area and in neighboring Bouches du-Rhone. It was stoked due to "extreme weather conditions".
It was a fire in "very unfavorable development" and "in dense vegetation" towards Bordezac, in northern Cevennes, which alarms emergency services. According to firefighters, the fire started around 5 p.m. and had spread to 400-500 hectares by 8 p.m.
The commander Tanguy Sageres was in charge of communications for the Gard firefighters. He stated that "this fire is, how can I say, a mega-fire". It is a very unfavorable, and very critical, situation in the area because the wind isn't calming down, and it isn't going to calm down tomorrow!, was the fear of this official. It will continue for several days and tonight.
The firefighters advised that residents of Gagnieres and Besseges "remain in their homes" at 8 p.m. They also reminded that only the security services could decide to evacuate. The evacuation order has already been issued to around thirty residents of Bordezac. They were "put to safety" in a nearby restaurant, according to Jean Rampon (sub-prefect of Ales) at the headquarters of firefighters in Besseges.
"A house was destroyed and the village was saved by firefighters," stated Mr. Rampon, who described a strong wind blowing in the south-southeast, but occasionally changing direction. In the meantime, 350 additional reinforcements were being sent to the site. 150 firefighters had already been mobilized on Thursday evening. A significant amount of air resources were also mobilized with six Canadairs and two Dash.
On Thursday evening, another fire was still raging in the Gard in Generac in the southern part of the department. The fire, which burned 150 hectares of pines and low vegetation, forced 120 men and 50 machines to mobilize. The pilot of Tracker 22 died in August 2019, while fighting a fire that had destroyed 800 hectares.
According to the initial relief report, four houses were destroyed and four more were damaged.
According to firefighters from Bouches-du Rhone in Martigues, another fire was "over" at the end of day. This was after a fire in Martigues had started. The Escaillon district fire had resulted in temporary evacuations and confinement of residents. Retirement home.
They said that 500 firefighters from Sdis13 were reinforced on Thursday by 450 men in a drought-prone area. The gusts were up to 85 km/h in Bouches-duRhone on Thursday, where the prefecture had banned access to 25 massifs of that department. These ranged from the National Park of Creeks to the Alpilles which are very close to Arles. Only six massifs are expected to remain closed on Friday.
