Fire in the Var: the fire "is still not fixed"

The violent fire which broke out on Monday in the Var "

is still not fixed and is still likely to evolve

", but the weather conditions are "

favorable

", said Thursday the commander of the firefighters' rescue operations Loïc Lambert.

Read alsoFires: can a burnt forest recover?

"

The fire is not fixed but we are counting on the conditions of the day to announce it when we will be sure of it,

" added the firefighter from the Luc command post. The fire did not progress overnight, continued Mr. Lambert, specifying that "

efforts were concentrated on the sector of Garde-Freinet and Vidauban

". "

The weather conditions made it possible to spend a quieter night: the wind has dropped and the temperatures have cooled,

" added Dominique Lain, mayor of Luc and president of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service. "

Our goal is to eliminate all hot spots that could allow recovery,

" said the elected.

Several Canadair water bombers circled in the Var sky on Wednesday, supporting the 1,200 firefighters fighting the flames.

NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

"

We must remain humble and careful, but we must take the opportunity to hurt this fire,

" Commander Florent Dossetti explained to AFP on Wednesday evening, rejoicing in the fall of the wind for the night.

"

We are going to treat the edges and the incandescent points before resuming the fight tomorrow, meter by meter

", reported the representative of the SDIS 83, hoping then to take advantage "

of the rampart built by the Dash with a barrier of several kms of retardant posed. along the A8 motorway

”, this axis which connects Nice and Italy.

The prefecture of Var specified yesterday that all the forest areas remained at very high fire risk.

Some 1,200 firefighters are still on the ground, "

it is possible that we tend towards 1,000

", also indicated the commander of operations.

Firefighters face fiery swells of 700-800 meters fanned by gusts of wind.

NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

8,700 people still evacuated

More than 10,000 people have so far been evacuated.

However, some tourists were able to return to their campsite on Wednesday evening, a sign of a significant improvement in the situation.

Escorted in convoy by the gendarmes, the 1,300 holidaymakers of the PachaCaïd campsite in the village of La Môle, refugees since Monday evening in a gymnasium in Bormes-les-Mimosas, on the coast, were thus authorized to find their tents or mobile homes. .

For the 8,700 other evacuees, however, it is a third night looming, in reception centers hastily set up in seven coastal towns.

The fire devastated 7,100 hectares of vegetation, half of the nature reserve of the plain was destroyed.

NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP

The forest was still being consumed on Wednesday, despite the strengthening of the resources deployed. Starting Monday from a rest area along the A57 motorway leading to Toulon, the fire had covered nearly 8,000 hectares and had burned 7,100, Wednesday at the end of the day. The gendarmes and members of the communities have been mobilized since Monday to try to control the biggest fire of the summer in France, which ravages the hinterland of Saint-Tropez, on the Côte d'Azur (Var).

Nearly 900 firefighters from 16 reinforcement columns arrived from all over France are currently at work to try to control the fire.

Significant air assets, including 11 Canadair, 2 Dash and 4 water bomber helicopters, were also mobilized.

In addition, 45 gendarmes ensured the closure of the traffic axes, and patrols guaranteed the security of the evacuated areas.

Two deceased people

Two people died in the fire, according to the latest report. "

Most areas have been explored,

" assured the firefighter, questioned about the possibility of discovering new victims.

"There is at least one man"

among the two victims, he said during a press conference. After the discovery of two completely charred bodies in Grimaud, a village in the Massif des Maures, the Draguignan prosecutor's office opened an investigation.

"The house was completely destroyed by fire,"

said the prosecutor, Patrice Camberou.

According to several relatives of a young woman missing since Monday evening when she was staying in a lodging in Grimaud, the second victim would be this 32-year-old Parisian tourist. His brother and a friend confirmed his death on social media on Wednesday evening. Contacted by AFP, the Draguignan prosecutor, Patrice Camberou, could not confirm this information, the body not yet having been formally identified:

"But this hypothesis is very, very strongly plausible,"

he said. however declared.