Water bombers and firefighters from the continent took action on Wednesday in Corsica against a fire fanned by the winds of the storm Hervé, which ravaged several hundred hectares of forest and scrub without causing casualties.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner is expected this Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. at the fire command post installed in the annex town hall of Solaro (Haute-Corse), said the Interior Minister. He will then go to Ajaccio where he will lay a wreath at the end of the afternoon in tribute to the prefect Claude Erignac, assassinated on February 6, 1998.
North wind and strong gusts
On the ground, firefighters reported that 900 hectares of conifers and scrub burned. They had mentioned more than 1,000 hectares affected on Tuesday, but a more detailed assessment revealed that certain areas have been preserved. A north wind with strong gusts always complicated the work of firefighters, said at midday the departmental operational center for fire and rescue (Codis) which ensures that "there is no sensitive point threatened and no injuries ”.
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"We cannot say for the moment that the fire is circumscribed," he said, however, describing a "complicated and exhausting job" . An aerial reconnaissance took place on Wednesday around 9:00 a.m. and four water bomber planes began their flight over the area around 9:30 a.m., an AFP journalist noted. Two civil security helicopters also assist the firefighters. An investigation has been opened by the Ajaccio prosecution and investigations are underway to try to determine the origin of the fire.
An apocalyptic atmosphere
The fire started on Tuesday at dawn in the town of Quenza (Corse-du-Sud), in a maritime pine forest, and quickly moved into the Tova forest and then into the Solenzara valley, fanned by a strong west wind. Tuesday, the plume of smoke caused by the fire had spread "over 300 km," said Météo France. Solenzara and its surroundings had been plunged for several hours in an apocalyptic atmosphere, according to residents.
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On Wednesday, the blue of the sky was visible again, but a light veil of smoke clung to the mountain peaks, according to an AFP journalist. Some 120 people from the fire and rescue services of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the battalion of Marseille firefighters disembarked Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. at the port of Propriano (south -west of Corsica) but were still in transit to Solaro at midday, according to Codis. They will support 200 firefighters and fire specialists already on the job.
Peaks at 100 km / h
The disaster did not require evacuation but several hundred homes were deprived of electricity on Tuesday, according to EDF Corse who told AFP on Wednesday that the situation had returned to normal. Corsica had been placed in orange vigil on Tuesday at 6:00 am for strong winds. Wednesday morning, the island was however no longer the subject of vigilance but the wind was still blowing strongly on the coast, according to Météo France. Spikes at 80/100 km / h were expected in particular on the east coast, not far from the fire.
At the peak of the passage of the Hervé storm on Tuesday, Météo France notably recorded gusts at 195.1 km / h on Cap Corse (Haute-Corse). The use of fire was prohibited Tuesday and Wednesday throughout the Isle of Beauty. Despite this measure, three other "wildfires" were identified in Haute-Corse on Wednesday, regretted the firefighters who said that one of them "needed to divert two Canadairs" .
At the end of December, storm Fabien cut Corsica off the continent for several days.
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