Stéphane Place (special correspondent at La Teste-de-Buch), edited by Ophélie Artaud 7:45 p.m., July 19, 2022

More than 19,000 hectares have burned for eight days in the extraordinary fire that affects the Gironde.

This Tuesday evening, on the Teste-de-Buch side, the news seems encouraging and the fire has not progressed.

The thunderstorms forecast tonight could also help firefighters in their fight, although the wind remains a risk.

Firefighters have been fighting these fires in Gironde for a week now.

More than 19,000 hectares of forest have burned since last Tuesday in Teste-de-Buch and Landiras.

On the Teste side, the news seems encouraging with a calmer day on Tuesday.

No fire progression at La Teste this Tuesday

The sub-prefect announced on Tuesday evening that the flames have devoured around 7,000 hectares since the start of this extraordinary fire in the La Teste sector.

But since Tuesday morning the fire has not progressed.

A satisfactory finding, even if it is still at the gates of residential areas.

The main objective is the defense of dwellings.

At the edge of the forest, trucks and firefighters are deployed all around the houses, units ready to fight.

>> Find all the editorial newspapers of Europe 1 in replay and podcast here

If this day recorded a drop in temperature and was therefore less tense than yesterday, everyone keeps an eye on the weather forecast which remains an essential factor.

The risk of the wind

“For tonight, we should a priori have a North-East wind. So we are going to recalibrate all that since we have weather forecasts coming to us”, explains Lieutenant Colonel Fabrice Aulas.

“Indeed, we have heard of thunderstorms. Will we have a little rain? We hope so. Otherwise, we would have so-called dry thunderstorms, that is to say without rain. And that, we do not hope too much, because it is often a generator of strong gusts and not of rain which would come to help us a little to fight against the disaster.

>> READ ALSO - "We didn't need that": campsites and hotels in Gironde disappointed in the face of fires

These are very measured hopes, borrowed from uncertainties.

Because firefighters know it better than anyone: the changing, unstable, unpredictable wind can generate very unpleasant surprises at any time.