Benjamin Peter, edited by Thibault Nadal 6:45 p.m., July 17, 2022

Nearly six days after the start of the fires, the two gigantic forest fires have ravaged nearly 11,000 hectares of vegetation and are still not fixed, according to a latest report from the prefecture.

But above all, firefighters now fear the weather conditions for the next few hours.

The Gironde is not done with its two fires.

Several outbreaks of fire threatened the campsites of the Dune du Pilat last night, which had to be evacuated.

The next few hours promise to be complicated, in particular, because the fire has covered 300 hectares since this morning, despite the heat and despite the wind.

But what now concerns the firefighters is that this wind will turn the thrust towards the southwest.

And by this evening, he should leave this time towards the North, the North-East.

The decision was therefore made to completely evacuate the village of Cabanac.

Just over 2,000 people are affected.

The fire in La Teste-de-Buch (Gironde) reaches the ocean, the recovery is enormous with flames over 30m high heading towards the ocean and Biscarosse Plage // catastrophic situation at 3:10 p.m. #fire # Latestedebuch#girondepic.twitter.com/wIq1KvK0CI

— mathvsl (@Math00569C) July 17, 2022

“We must not return to the sectors that we are evacuating”

For the sub-prefect of Langon, Vincent Ferrier, it shows that we must continue to respect the evacuation orders.

"We had for a few days residents of Cabanac and Villagrains who felt a little far from the fire and who said 'why we are not going back'. We understand why we are not allowing this, because with a wind that is changing direction, we will be in difficulty if we had authorized these returns”, he explains, before calling for collective responsibility.

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“We must not return to the sectors that we are evacuating because first of all they put themselves in danger and then, moreover, it would potentially endanger people, in particular firefighters, who would have to come and get them if it was complicated."

A fear also shared by Patrick Davet, the mayor of La Teste-le-Buch: "Our fear always remains the same. It is in relation to this front that we have created, with the firewalls. At the level of the front, there is little chance that we will be surprised. On the other hand, the fire with the wind can pass by and if it misses, we are in difficulty. Today, the fire is not fixed, it does not "is not under control. It is now under control", deciphers the city councilor.

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Weather conditions deemed "critical"

For several hours, all the tactical counter-fire, line of support and delay devices that had worked ahead of the fire, especially last night, have been being drawn on the new front line.

On top of that, the weather conditions until tomorrow evening are described here as 'critical'. With 44 degrees, barely 10% humidity in the air and gusts of wind up to 60 km/h.