Benjamin Peter (special correspondent to Landiras), edited by Laura Laplaud 11:34 a.m., July 18, 2022
To cope with the gigantic fire which has already ravaged 14,000 hectares in Gironde, firefighters are innovating.
They use the clear-cutting method, a technique that was rarely used in this region and in the pine forests until now.
Europe 1 went to one of these slaughterhouses.
Imagine a city like Paris or Lyon completely reduced to ashes.
This is the area covered by the fire in Gironde, i.e. 14,000 hectares.
In La-Teste-de-Buch, this fire is out of control and has just reached the sea. More than 2,000 people were evacuated again this weekend.
In total, 16,000 holidaymakers had to pack up in front of a wall of flames that reaches up to 100 meters high.
The firefighters adopt a new strategy: they deforest plots to slow down its progression.
Make a fire barrier
Huge jaws grip these 20-meter-high pines.
In a few seconds, they are nothing more than logs, while an imposing chipper devours the vegetation on the ground.
Over 40 meters wide, there is nothing left but turned earth.
For Marc Vermuellen, the director of SDIS 33, it is a question of creating a barrier to fire.
"Non-standard fire, non-standard measures. Here, in front of you, you have 20-meter pines, so we are going to make a width of 40 meters which will allow that if the fire reaches this level, it will not have nothing left to eat," he explained.
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It is the foresters who work to deforest and clear this strip where the fire could arrive in one or two days.
For Bruno Laffon, the president of the DFCI, the Defense of forests against fires, this association created by operators to fight against fires, it is a necessary sacrifice.
"We made the decision to take a step ahead of him by sacrificing a little of the massif, but knowing that there, we will put the means to be able to stop him", he assures.
"We prefer to cut a little to save the rest"
"Because here, it's not an ornamental forest, it's a production forest, a forest that feeds a sector. That's why the sector came to lend a hand with machines because we absolutely have to stop it. That's enough. We prefer to cut a little to save the rest because afterwards, it's the Landes."
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Within hours they had created a 12 kilometer long strip, complete with strategic lights to avoid wind-driven swings, but as the wind turns, more strategic cuts are planned for the day.