A fire broke out late Monday afternoon near the Gonfaron area, in the Var, and had already covered 6,000 hectares on Tuesday afternoon.
No less than 10,000 people have been evacuated since the start of the fire, near Gonfaron, but also to Grimaud.
Maïka, her husband, and their four children, have left their rental house to join the Luc gymnasium, and are waiting to find out if they will be able to collect some belongings before returning to the Paris region.
From our special correspondent in the Var,
Maïka, her husband, and their 4 children will long remember the end of their 2021 vacation. They were attacking their third week in a rental house in the hills of La Garde Frenet, when the fire started just a few kilometers away, on the Gonfaron motorway rest area, in the Var.
“We started to see smoke around 6pm, but we weren't more worried than that.
The owner of the house nevertheless came to tell us that the fire was progressing quickly and that we had to remain vigilant.
At first, we could see the smoke coming from behind us, then suddenly a new home appeared just in front of us, ”says the mother of the family.
"When we arrived, the tide had turned"
The family from Nanterre, in the Paris region, decides to join the meeting point of the town with other inhabitants.
“The neighbors nevertheless advised us to leave, telling us that they were staying there because they have animals.
On the road, we met some gendarmes who told us that we could go back because the fire was not heading towards the house, ”she continues.
If they are used to coming on vacation to the Var, this is the first time they have been faced with such a situation.
It is a little less than 11 p.m. when the family of 6 returns to their rental at La Garde Frenet.
“When we arrived, the wind had turned and the flames were right next to the house, we just had time to leave.
It was a terrible experience, ”she says.
Too early for a material assessment
They were finally welcomed at the municipal gymnasium in Le Luc, where volunteers took care of them and the 45 other people in the area.
“The majority of these people were vacationing in the surrounding area.
There are also two or three couples from the area who came because they had lost their home, explains a volunteer present on the spot.
But we received at least 20 people who offered us help, accommodation, food ”.
A little further on, an 86-year-old lady is resting away from everyone, alone with her grandson: her house has disappeared in the night under the flames.
It is still too early, and the fire is above all still too bright, for a precise material assessment, but it is not the only one in this case according to several accounts.
"If we have no news during the night, we will leave tomorrow"
This Tuesday afternoon, Maïka and her family are still waiting to know what the next few hours will be.
"The owner came by the house, she told us that it had not completely burned down and that we could surely recover two or three things," she hopes.
Except that in the meantime the situation has deteriorated, and the road has been completely intersected.
"If we have no news during the night, we will leave tomorrow," she says.
Many other municipalities have also opened their gymnasiums and other public places to accommodate the 10,000 people already evacuated since Monday evening.
Like an hour's drive further south, in Bormes-les-Mimosas.
“We welcomed 1,300 people last night, mainly people from neighboring campsites.
As the fire has not yet been brought under control, we are increasing our reception capacity to 1,500 people for the next night, ”explains the municipality of Bormes, which has also launched an appeal for donations of basic necessities.
In the Var, everyone is organizing to hold out for several days in the face of this fiery monster, and the Var prefecture calls on all people already evacuated not to return to their homes.
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