- Around Marseille (Bpuches-du-Rhône), the vegetation is less dry than last year at the same time.
- The risk of forest fire is therefore lower than usual. But firefighters remain vigilant, especially as summer promises to be hot.
Miramas, Cabriès, Istres, Le Puy-Sainte-Reparade, Cheval Blanc: fire starts have multiplied in recent days in Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône. Will summer be hot? For the time being, firefighters in the South East of France remain calm. “The situation is rather favorable, points the frigate captain Bruno, assistant to the chief of the operation division of the marine firefighters of Marseilles. We had a lot of rain in May, we have not yet had a lot of heat so the vegetation is not yet under water stress. Clearly: the drought is less advanced than last year at the same time.
The fires of the last few days did not worry frigate captain Bruno: "They remained very limited in area, since the largest of them only caused three hectares of damage. We are far from the megafires feared by the firefighters of the Southeast.
Three hundred firefighters as reinforcements
Despite these "good provisions", they will be on the teeth this summer: from this Saturday, the firefighters of Bouches-du-Rhône will mobilize 300 people in reinforcement to intervene on forest fires. "We are vigilant, not worried," says Stéphane Guyot, the spokesman for the fire soldiers in the department: "There is no drought yet, but it is taking hold. With the wind we have now and the rise in temperatures, we are heading towards an increase in risk. "
Especially since tourists are just beginning to arrive in the region. The department is preparing, as every year, to double its number of inhabitants for two months. "The season promises to be always high risk," said Eric Brocardi, of the National Federation of Firefighters. We will have on one side the specter of Covid-19 and on the other the forest fires: summer could be delicate. "
Planes patrolling with delay
The firefighters hammered the safety instructions: no fire in the forest, intensive brush clearing around the houses and, above all, no hiking in a massif on days of high risk. "It is always necessary to check on the sites of the prefecture if the massifs are accessible," insists Stéphane Guyot, of SDIS 13.
Every evening, the firefighters assess the weather risk for the next day and adjust their staff. "We have significant resources that can be mobilized at all times," said Commander Bruno. Since the air assets are no longer based in Marignane, but in Nîmes, planes fly over the Marseille region whenever the risk is high: "We put planes in the air all day, they patrol the zone and are able to respond in less than 10 minutes with delay, describes Commander Bruno. So it's as fast, if not faster, than when the planes were parked in Marignane. "
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