Since the start of 2022, nearly 30 hectares have gone up in smoke in Ile-de-France with 26 forest fires recorded.
For Claire Nowak, head of the forest service at the Ile-de-France National Forestry Office (ONF) and fire referent, “we have very severe drought conditions”, conducive to forest fires.
Recommending "not to bring fire into the forest", she also calls on visitors not to overload the woods, which also need to rest.
While the Gironde never ceases to be consumed, Ile-de-France seems preserved.
Simple impression since 26 forest fires have already broken out this year in the region, ravaging nearly 30 hectares, the latest affecting a forest in Rochefort-en-Yvelines on Tuesday.
Claire Nowak, head of the forest service at the Ile-de-France National Forestry Office (ONF) and fire referent, discusses the risks facing the Ile-de-France forests and the best practices to adopt to avoid fire outbreaks.
What is the risk of fire for the forests of Ile-de-France today?
Today [Wednesday] the risk has collapsed with overnight [Tuesday to Wednesday] and morning rainfall.
But the risk varies from day to day and even hour to hour.
To assess it, we rely on the indices that Météo France establishes very precisely for dry vegetation and living vegetation.
As risk changes very quickly, decisions can be made from one day to the next, which forest users sometimes find difficult to understand.
This year, the fire risk is higher than in 2021 when the season had been wet.
It started in April and it hasn't stopped since with the mid-June episode and the heat wave that we just went through.
In addition, the rainfall has been low and we therefore have very severe drought conditions with very dry vegetation.
How does this translate into the number of fires?
For the western part of Ile-de-France that I monitor, we are at six fire starts since the beginning of the year.
And for example, Tuesday in Rochefort-en-Yvelines, a fire affected a departmental forest and a neighboring private plot, with large flames, up to ten meters high.
Last April, a fire had already hit this area destroying 8 hectares.
There are also harvest fires that can be started during harvest by a spark.
In the Yvelines, there is almost one a day.
We don't talk about it a lot, but it has a big economic impact for farmers.
Are some areas more vulnerable than others?
All forests are not created equal.
For example, the forest of Fontainebleau [about fifteen fire starts since the beginning of the year], made up largely of pines, is located on sand which does not retain water and which makes it a very dry forest. .
In the forest of Rambouillet there is a lot of moorland with peat below.
However, visitors who bivouac and who think they have correctly extinguished their fire, can start a peat fire.
That is to say that the fire will take place underground, invisible, and reappear a little further, several hours later.
But the main factor of vulnerability is human activity because fires in forests are of human origin in 100% of cases.
This is why the forests of Meudon or Versailles, which are very popular, are very vulnerable.
The fires are not large in scale but are frequent.
Afterwards, users often have the reflex to alert us, which limits the damage.
What are the best practices to implement to avoid setting fire to the forest?
At all times, do not bring fires into the forest.
Even in February there is a risk with the carpet of dead winter leaves.
No barbecue, no bivouac and please don't throw away your cigarette butts!
And I know that in periods of high heat, it is tempting to take refuge in the forest to find freshness there, but the forests are also fragile and need to rest, they must not be overloaded.
For its part, what is the NFB doing to prevent fires?
We have very strong relations with the various Sdis [departmental fire and rescue service] and we train firefighters in the risks of forest fires.
We indicate to them access to the forests in the event of an intervention as well as the person to contact.
At the ONF, we also have forest fire defense referents, like me, who monitor Météo France with different alert levels.
The maximum level was triggered yesterday [Tuesday].
This is the second time in 2022 after Saturday June 18.
In this case, we stop all work in the forests (logging, Enedis interventions, etc.), we prohibit demonstrations with the public such as orienteering, we close the parts of forests belonging to the ONF to vehicles. and we conduct surveillance and awareness patrols.
Is a fire of the magnitude of that in Gironde possible in Ile-de-France?
It's very difficult to say.
In Ile-de-France, the forests are smaller and cut by roads and meadows.
19,000 hectares destroyed as in Gironde, it is the equivalent of the forest of Rambouillet.
It seems unimaginable in 2022 but in 2030, it is impossible to say that it will not happen.
With climate change, we are in uncertainty.
There are more and more droughts, outbreaks of fire.
And the ONF Ile-de-France has only had fire referents for three years.
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