A picture of devastation as far as the eye can see.
Black, charred tree stumps, sandy ground covered with ash and firefighters aiming their hoses at the last smoking spots: the television pictures from the fire region south of Bordeaux shocked many French, especially since firefighters are already fighting a new major fire near Montpellier, 1000 hectares have already fallen victim.
The maritime pine forests on the Atlantic coast, valued by holidaymakers for cycling and hiking tours, have transformed into post-apocalyptic landscapes on more than 20,000 hectares.
"It looks a bit like the moon," said Sébastien Lamoureux, the commander of the fire brigade unit that was called in from a neighboring department.
It is an ecological catastrophe.
“Not only the trees were burned.
The entire ecosystem with flora and fauna has been destroyed.
There is no life left on hundreds of hectares," Lamoureux told L'Opinion newspaper.
President Emmanuel Macron has announced a major afforestation plan.
"We will replant all the trees," he said.
Similar to the fire in the Notre-Dame-de-Paris cathedral, he tried to reassure his compatriots about the loss.
He promised that the woods would soon be even more beautiful.
The President of the Office national des forêts (ONF), Jean-Yves Caullet, warned against impatience.
“The floors are full of toxic substances from the fires.
We have to wait at least a full season, probably until next year," said Caullet in "Parisien".
Planting new trees is not the only solution.
The aim is to develop a coherent strategy as to how the risk of forest fires can be reduced in view of the extreme weather conditions and global warming.
it will take
until the forest destroyed in the fire grew back.
"In our lifetime we will not see such forests again.
Maybe our children,” said the Chief Forest Warden.
75 percent of the forest is in private hands.
Very many small forest owners did not take care of their forest.
The fire brigade paths are often overgrown, and easily combustible, dried branches and pine needles collect in the undergrowth.
"That contributes to the risk of fire." In the future, it will be better to monitor the forest areas in dry and hot weather and to use drones.
The fire brigade paths are often overgrown, and easily combustible, dried branches and pine needles collect in the undergrowth.
"That contributes to the risk of fire." In the future, it will be better to monitor the forest areas in dry and hot weather and to use drones.
The fire brigade paths are often overgrown, and easily combustible, dried branches and pine needles collect in the undergrowth.
"That contributes to the risk of fire." In the future, it will be better to monitor the forest areas in dry and hot weather and to use drones.
Many endangered species affected
The ONF President estimated the cost of the afforestation at more than 105 million euros.
A species census had been completed shortly before the devastating fire in the forest area managed by the state forest authority ONF.
The natural site between the Atlantic Ocean and Lake Cazaux was the habitat of the largest European lizards, the pearl lizards, which are threatened with extinction in France.
The area was also home to one of the largest species of bats, the common noctule bat, as well as rare sand toads and birds.
"Reptiles and young birds probably got caught in the flames," said Paul Tourneur, who carried out the census for the ONF.
In the Arcachon basin, near the Pilat dune, the fires destroyed 7,000 hectares of forest, including a wooded area with many centuries-old trees, the ownership of which dates back to a 15th-century legal arrangement.
In the south of Bordeaux, near Landiras, 13,600 hectares of pine forests have burned.
In the case of Landiras, investigators assume arson.
A suspect was temporarily taken into police custody.
According to Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the Arcachon Basin fire was caused by an electric vehicle.
"The fire in the Gironde came from an electric car that caught fire," said the prime minister on BFM-TV.
The AFP news agency has questioned the cause of the fire.
Citing the Bordeaux prosecutor's office, AFP said it was a fuel-powered van, believed to be a Ford Transit, that caught fire on a forest track.
Photographers filmed the burned wreckage of a delivery truck on the forest section known as runway 214.
Fake news circulating about the cause of the fire
The contradictory statements have sparked a debate about the dangers of electric motors.
It is also fueled by the fact that an electric bus operated by the Paris public transport company caught fire again on Tuesday morning.
Fake news is circulating about the cause of the fire in Landiras.
There are claims on social media that it is a deliberate slash-and-burn operation to make way for Europe's planned largest solar park.
In fact, the energy companies Engie and Neoen are planning a ground-mounted system in Saucats in the south of the Gironde, as well as a battery storage system and an electrolysis system.
1000 hectares of pine forest are to be cut down for this.
But the planned site is about 20 kilometers from the fire area.
All of the more than 30,000 residents who were brought to safety were able to return to their homes.
25 firefighters were slightly injured during the operation.
The prefect of the Gironde, Fabienne Buccio, praised the tireless efforts of the firefighters.
"2800 houses were directly threatened by the flames, none was damaged." Nearly 3000 firefighters were deployed.
The prefect announced that the surveillance would continue.
It is to be feared that the fire will continue to smolder under the ground and spread underground and exceed the firebreaks.