It is the first major fire of the summer. A fire of undetermined origin broke out this Monday afternoon in the town of Tuzan (Gironde), not far from the border with the department of Landes. Four water bombers and more than 160 firefighters are mobilized. One of the fire engines burned down, but the occupants were unharmed. Four firefighters were on the other hand injured, without seriousness, victims of "heat strokes", said the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) of Gironde. The fire was still not contained at 8 pm and remained "in progress".
Five hamlets, totaling about fifty people, located in the vicinity of the disaster area, were being evacuated "as a preventive measure" because of the smoke, said the prefecture. A nearby photovoltaic farm is also threatened.
🔥🇫🇷 [FLASH] - A major forest fire is underway in #Gironde, in the area of ​​the municipality of Le Tuzan where more than 200 hectares have gone up in smoke, nearly 150 #pompiers are mobilized to contain the # fire. (@ JournalMeteo / 🎥 Mélissa Tassoni / Facebook) pic.twitter.com/uZxEOnXITD
- La Plume Libre (@LPLdirect) July 27, 2020A "complex" fire
The fire is "complex", due in particular to the wind, a sandy terrain that is difficult to access and plots of pines of different ages, including young people with low branches conducive to propagation, said Captain Mathieu Jaumain, of the Sdis de Gironde.
The Gironde had a dry and hot start to summer, with several days at over 30 degrees, and a new episode of hot weather is expected for the second part of the week. It is home to a large part of the Landes de Gascogne forest and is the leading French department in terms of number of fires starting with several hundred each year. More than 500 fires were recorded last year.
VIDEO. They save two children jumping out of a window to escape a fire
