The exceptional fires that have broken out in France since the beginning of the summer have put a strain on the firefighters, professionals and volunteers, who have been mobilized sometimes until exhaustion.
To take over during this month of August which promises to be just as scorching, Gérald Darmanin therefore called on local authorities and companies to make an effort: "I launch a solemn appeal to employers to release their employees who are volunteer firefighters, so that they can join their fellow firefighters, everywhere on the national territory”, declared the minister during a trip to Aveyron.
“It is an extremely important civic message,” he added during a press briefing in the village of Mostuéjouls, evacuated overnight from Monday to Tuesday due to the proximity of a fire which ravaged 700 hectares in Lozère and Aveyron, and mobilized 600 firefighters.
Insufficient air resources
While aerial firefighting means are insufficient, France has requested help from European countries.
“The Swedes are lending us planes from (Thursday), the Italians no doubt in the next few hours (…) This European mechanism allows us in any case in the next few hours to be able to concentrate other air resources”, a-t-t -he announces.
Firefighters are mobilized on many fronts, particularly in Gironde, but also in smaller fires in Maine-et-Loire, Aveyron, Drôme, Isère or Pyrénées-Orientales, each time with reinforcements from other departments.
Company
Fires in Gironde: Nearly 10,000 people evacuated in the south of the department
Planet
Gironde: The fires resume so violently, because the forest has become a real "field of matches"
Company
Fire
Firefighters
Gerald Darmanin
Company
Employees