Bassin d'Arcachon: machines and men at the service of fighting forest fires

Le Figaro Bordeaux

City under the forest, bordered by destructive fires in Gironde last year, Lège-Cap-Ferret, a peninsula composed of 80% trees that extends over 25 kilometers long by thinning towards the lagoon, is particularly vulnerable to fires. And on this surface that has only a major main road and a steeper track on the coast, the evacuation of people if necessary would be very complex. A risk that pushes the mayor of the town to the utmost caution. Unprecedented in Gironde, Philippe de Gonneville decided to install eight talking bollards at strategic points in his commune. Located at the edge of the woods or at the crossroads of forest trails used by walkers and cyclists, six of them are already in service. All will be in mid-June to fulfill a dual function.

A technology at more than 20,000 euros

On the one hand, these kiosks broadcast alert messages when they detect a presence. Reminder of the prohibition to go into the forest and the penalties incurred on days of high risk of fire or simple prevention messages on good behavior to adopt, the texts disseminated will be chosen by the national police according to the need. On the other hand, the devices are equipped with an emergency button to directly alert firefighters in the event of a fire. "We want to maintain this DNA of Lège-Cap-Ferret with its low dwellings under the pine canopy. This increases the need for risk prevention," says Philippe de Gonneville, who is also very picky about brush clearing obligations.

The first magistrate of the city, a great lover of the forest, insists on "the catastrophe for human lives" beyond the property and the environment that represents the fire risk because of the topography of the peninsula. Funded 50% by the Department as part of a call for projects on innovative firefighting techniques won in autumn, the technology deployed by Lège-Cap-Ferret costs just over 20,000 euros.