In the Southeast, we fear the very concrete repercussions of the monster fire raging in Gironde.
The air resources available to France to fight the fires would indeed be insufficient.
Result: the little available is currently mobilized in Gironde, to the detriment of the South-East which is preparing for a high-risk weekend, and without sufficient means in the event of a fire.
Aquitaine is burning, but in the South-East, some would like us to look elsewhere.
For several days, while the Gironde has been in the grip of a historic fire, firefighters and elected officials from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur have been sounding the alarm.
“Last year, at this time of year, I had eight Canadairs operational, explains Dominique Lain, president of the Var firefighters.
Today, I have 50% less air fleet, while all the indicators are red, and the conditions are extreme, in terms of climate, vegetation and tourist numbers.
I wanted to push a rant, because it should especially not that we come to undress Paul to dress Jacques.
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These missing Canadairs have indeed left the only French base in Nîmes to overcome the monster fire that has been raging in Gironde for several weeks.
“Today, OK, there is solidarity, continues Dominique Lain.
But I don't have my planes.
If tomorrow, we slam a fire, how do we do it?
I need to maintain the same operational capacity in the Mediterranean departments, so as to have the same firefighting possibilities as last year.
And you know what they say?
You put out a fire in a second with a glass of water, in a minute with a 10-litre container, and then it's gone, and it's exponential!
Today, we need air assets to attack emerging fires.
All of this worries me.
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"If that's the biggest fleet, where is it?"
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The fault, as Dominique Lain says, of the use of “the same number of planes on an enlarged perimeter, identical means on a larger space”.
Translation: the number of Canadairs available to France is insufficient if several fires break out at the same time in several places in the country, according to local actors.
When, on a visit to Gironde, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin declared that France had the largest European fleet, the president of the Alpilles national park almost choked.
“I freaked out and I said to myself that it was not possible, plague Jean Mangion.
If this is the biggest fleet, where is it?
And if that's the biggest fleet, it's a disaster!
Stop making us believe that the fleet is sufficient for France.
It's taking people for marbles!
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The president of the Alpilles national park is furious, a week after the start of the Montagnette fire, in the Bouches-du-Rhône, which ravaged a thousand hectares.
“We no longer had any aircraft on the Nîmes base when the fire broke out,” says Jean Mangion.
They had all gone to the Southwest.
And there were also not enough pilots.
Most of the resources were mobilized for Aquitaine.
If we had had two more bombers, we wouldn't have lost 1,000 hectares!
When everyone is mobilized for a fire, there is a problem.
It's like having an emergency department in a hospital for 10 million people.
It is a matter of safety of goods and people.
It's a constitutional liability, damn it!
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As the Castellet Formula 1 Grand Prix opens this Friday, as every year, faced with the fire risk linked to the organization of this sporting event, the Var firefighters had requested the mobilization of a water bomber helicopter. on the site airfield.
"And as we speak, I still don't have it," sighs Dominique Lain.
And I don't have Canadairs like last year.
We will therefore hope that the prevention work that we do all year round works…”
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