REPORTAGE
They face since Tuesday the fires. In the small village of Générac, in the Gard, the inhabitants are very angry against the criminals who would have caused the fire, but since the announcement of the death of the pilot of the water bomber on Friday, it is a feeling of sadness that dominates.
A desert of ashes
"We are angry, and yesterday there was a victim, it's catastrophic," Denis says. "Générac is surrounded by seven beautiful wooded hills, there is surrounded by a big black spot," said the native Générac who spent his entire life in the village. "It hurts my heart". Formerly green, the surroundings of this town of 4,000 inhabitants are now a vast desert of ash: 319 hectares of garrigue have gone up in smoke.
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But the emotion does not stop at Générac. Ten kilometers away, residents of nearby villages came to the Civilian Air Base to drop flowers and pay tribute to the deceased pilot who "lost his bearings," according to a survey source. "Like my wife, I was shocked," says David. "To learn that a firefighter dies like that is dramatic, I had tears in my eyes, yet I do not know him," he explains. If the Générac fire is now under control, the 450 firefighters mobilized will remain on site all day Saturday and all night to avoid the slightest fire.