Today at 14:07.
Fire Risk Assessment: What Three 30 Rule Do Firefighters Use?
To determine the level of fire danger, firefighters use the so-called “three thirty” rule. It is “a simple mnemonic way to identify factors that contribute to increased risk.”
>>> Read our full explanation here.
Today at 13:52.
Two fires are ongoing in Gard, including one on the A9 motorway near Millau.
The Prefect of Garat announces on Facebook that two fires are “breaking up” in Saint-Privat-le-Vieux and Millau, specifying that this is “a new fire on the edge of the A9 motorway” for the latter.
“The firefighters are highly mobilized,” declares the prefect, who announces that the first fire is “under control” and the second “contained.”
“Civil security aircraft and a fire brigade helicopter are intervening,” continues the prefect, who asks the population to avoid the area.
Today at 13:15.
‘It will take a few more days’ to end the fire in Drome
According to the prefecture, “it will take several more days to extinguish the fire in Drome.” In this mountainous area, which is very difficult to reach, the fire burned at least 115 hectares of forest in two days.
Yesterday’s deployment of four Canadair planes, a Dash plane and a helicopter, which carried more than 80 drops of water and retardant, helped slow progress, the prefecture added.
It is extremely difficult to reach the edges of the fire on foot, and 218 firefighters from Drôme and eastern France managed to attack it on the ground from dawn after bulldozers opened trenches and access routes to them in the dense forest the day before.
Today at 13:01.
Rescue operation on the A51 motorway in the Alpes of Haute-Provence: car and vegetation fire “under control”
The Alpes-Haute-Provence security service says that at 9:18 a.m. a car was involved in a fire on the A51 towards La Brianne.
“Upon arrival, emergency personnel encountered a car completely engulfed in flames. Under the influence of the wind, the fire spread to the vegetation along the highway, then to the field, directly threatening a residential complex located on the axis of spread,” they summarize.
The fire, which consumed 1.3 hectares of vegetation, is “brought under control”, SDIS said, adding that “edge flooding operations continue to avoid any risk of relapse.”
A total of 33 firefighters were mobilized.
Today at 12:38.
Firefighting efforts continue between Arles and Saint-Martin-de-Cros.
After a fire is reported between Arles and Saint-Martin-de-Cros, an operation is carried out with the mobilization of fifty firefighters. The fire involved a car, a bungalow and bushes, the Bouches-du-Rhône fire and rescue service (SDIS) told BFMTV. Firefighters said they were notified of the fire around 11:20 a.m.
Today at 11:30.
According to Météo-France, the level of wildfire danger is explained by the “global context of soil drought.”
In its latest bulletin, Météo-France assesses that “the global context of still significant soil drought with no rainfall for almost two months, high temperatures and low humidity explains the high and very high levels of wildfire danger in recent days around the Mediterranean.”
“Since Wednesday we have also seen increased winds with a prolonged tramontane and a strong mistral, which highlight the level of danger,” continues the meteorological institute.
Today at 11:11.
Drome fire ‘generally under control’ with operations still ongoing
The village of Dee in Drome says the fire, which restarted yesterday, is now “generally under control” and has burned 115 hectares. “Operations continue to secure the entire perimeter and avoid any resumption,” continues the municipality.
“280 firefighters have been mobilized today, supported by a standby squad with three helicopters,” the village of Dee said, adding that “a helicopter with a water bomber should also intervene as reinforcements during the day.”
Today at 10:53.
Last night in Gibertville, Calvados, a storage bungalow at the stadium caught fire.
A warehouse bungalow at the Claude Bozek stadium in Gibertville, Calvados, caught fire last night. The fire was contained at 10:50 p.m., the mayor’s office said in a Facebook post.
“The sports infrastructure was not damaged,” writes the municipality, which thanks the firefighters and police. “The situation is now under control,” she concludes.
Today at 10:25.
Access denied to eleven forested areas in Bouches-du-Rhône due to ‘very serious’ fire risk
The Prefect of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region (PACA) announces that “access, movement, presence and work” are “strictly prohibited” in eleven forested areas of the Bouches-du-Rhône due to a “very serious fire risk.”
Affected are Alpilles, Castillon, Chene-de-Côtes, Chambremont, Lançon, Le Roc, Montagnette, Pont-de-Raux, Quatre-Therme, Rougadoux and Souloz. The ban is also related to “the mistral with wind gusts of up to 65 km/h in the Alps, Camargue and Crau,” the prefect specified.
There are a total of 25 forested areas in Bouches-du-Rhône.
Today at 10:15.
The town of Bressuire in De Sèvres is canceling its fireworks display due to the risk of fire.
The city of Bressuire announced Thursday it was canceling its July 14 fireworks show due to “drought and (a) high fire risk.” In a press release, the municipality announced an ordinance “prohibiting all fireworks, including on private land, throughout the municipality of Bressuire and its devolved municipalities.”
“Over the past six years, three out of six fireworks displays on July 14 have already had to be postponed due to weather conditions,” emphasize the city, which will begin consultations on this issue.
Today at 9:56 am.
“The day is still at risk” in Oda, according to SDIS
A spokesman for the fire and rescue service of the Aude department (SDIS 11) told AFP that today is “still a day of risk”, even if the situation around Pouzols-Minervois “stabilises”.
Today at 9:43 am.
Laurent Nunez is ‘very concerned’ that the fire season in France started ‘a month early’
Interior Minister Laurent Nunes said yesterday he was “very concerned” that the fire season had started “a month early” in France.
“We are very worried about the season; we have a month before the fires start,” he said, noting that, for example, on Thursday, 26 simultaneous fires were counted in the capital region.
France has “sufficient means” to fight the fires, but Laurent Nunez sought reassurance by listing, in particular, 12 Canadair aircraft and eight Dash aircraft as part of the firefighting fleet, as well as an additional leased 10 water carrier helicopters and six light bombers.
Today at 9:31 am.
Vacationers return to fire-ravaged campsites from which they were evacuated.
Yesterday, several holidaymakers from Canet-en-Roussillon returned to their holiday destination after being evacuated the day before. Around a hundred mobile homes were destroyed by fire at the Brasilia campsite.
“It’s sad, we went from a gem to something completely destroyed in two hours,” Eva, a campsite employee, told BFMTV.
Some vacationers, for their part, tried to find things in the ashes.
Today at 9:27 am.
In Oda, 150 firefighters are still mobilized
This morning, around 150 firefighters continue to battle the blaze in Aude, near Pousol-Minervois.
Now the fire there has been localized, but it has yet to be extinguished, said a representative of the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS 11).
“Until the fire has been extinguished, on the many-kilometer outskirts” of the fire, on an area of about 900 hectares, covered in 48 hours, extinguishing work is underway (the act of extinguishing the flame, editor’s note), the GDIS clarified.
Today at 9:21.
Six departments placed on red alert due to ‘very high’ risk of wildfires
Hello and welcome to our live broadcast for the latest information on the ongoing fires in France this Saturday 4th July.
Forest Weather today issued a red alert in six Mediterranean departments due to a “very high” fire risk.
These are the Eastern Pyrenees, Aude, Hérault, Gard, Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse.