Tuesday, the President of the Republic visited the scene of the violent fire which ravaged the Massif des Maures north of Saint-Tropez, in the Var.

For Emmanuel Macron, this event is due to climate change.

An opinion shared by Rémi Savazzi, deputy director of forest defense against fires, interviewed by Europe 1 on Wednesday. 

The fire which ravages the Massif des Maures, in the hinterland of Saint-Tropez, "did not progress" during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, but 1,200 firefighters are still mobilized to try to extinguish the biggest fire summer in France.

Even though the wind has died down, the fire has already destroyed more than 6,500 hectares of forest.

More than 7,000 people once again spent the night in reception facilities in the Var near Saint-Tropez.

On Wednesday, all the forest areas remain at very high fire risk.

The head of state, on the spot Tuesday, assured that the first responsible for this disaster is global warming.

"A greater frequency of exceptional events"

"What is clear is that climate change will lead us to see such events. What we observe is that we also have them in France north of the Loire and that we sometimes have them. If this fire season begins today, I believe that we must be vigilant in the coming weeks, "Emmanuel Macron warned on Tuesday at the scene of the fire. 

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But are fires really likely to increase because of climate change?

The deputy director of forest defense against fires, Rémi Savazzi is of the same opinion as the President of the Republic.

"Climate change is leading to a greater frequency of exceptional events," he explains at the microphone of Europe 1.

Risks that extend to the whole of France

For the deputy director of forest defense against fires, global warming "lengthens the duration of the seasons at risk".

He thus gives the example of Aude and the Eastern Pyrenees where there has been "no more rains since May" and "an increase in the number of fires in October over the last ten years".

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In addition, for Rémi Savazzi, these risks are no longer confined to the south-east and south-west.

"We are starting to have fires all over France. Especially in 2019 and 2020, when we had exceptional droughts throughout the country," he is alarmed.