Around 2,900 other people evacuated due to the fires that have burned nearly 21,000 hectares of forest in Gironde since July 12 were authorized to return to their homes on Saturday, the prefecture said.
The two fires, in La Teste-de-Buch in the Bassin d'Arcachon (7,000 hectares burned) and in the Landiras sector in South-Gironde (13,800), are "now contained but are not necessarily fixed", according to Prefecture.
They did not cause any casualties.
More than 36,000 people evacuated
The prefect of Gironde Fabienne Buccio hopes to be able to announce that they are fixed at the beginning of the week.
“But declaring them extinct will be another matter, it will take some time,” she assured Friday evening.
On the two sites, “the risks of resumptions persist, in particular under the effect of the winds”, according to the prefecture.
The municipalities concerned by the reintegrations on Saturday afternoon are located in the Landiras sector, about forty kilometers south of Bordeaux: Le Tuzan, Balizac, Saint-Léger-de-Balson and Saint-Symphorien, with the exception of five hamlets of this last commune.
Saturday morning, some 4,000 inhabitants of Cazaux, a town of La Teste-de Buch, were also able to return to their homes.
Since the almost simultaneous start of the two fires, on the afternoon of July 12, more than 36,000 people have been forced to leave their accommodation as a preventive measure, including 6,000 holidaymakers evacuated from the campsites of the very touristy Dune du Pilat, structures which had then been devoured by the flames.
Since Thursday, around 19,000 people have been allowed to return home.
Forty “hot spots”
The firefighters, who expected "favorable weather" on Saturday, explained that they had dealt with around forty "hot spots" on the two sites, mainly in Landiras.
These hot spots, or "smokers", can cause reignited fires if they are not cooled.
Two Canadairs and two water bomber helicopters are still mobilized.
On Friday, 1,3,000 firefighters were still hard at work on the two sites.
The prefecture has also authorized boating again on the western part of Lake Cazaux-Sanguinet and in the southern pass of the entrance to the Arcachon basin.
The prefect must bring together elected officials and economic actors from the two affected sectors on Monday to "prepare for the end of the economic crisis".
The Nouvelle-Aquitaine Regional Health Agency indicated on Friday that after initial data records, “the health impact of the fires seems very moderate on the general population”.
She says she is cautious because the data analyzed does not cover the liberal medicine sector, which may have been solicited.
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