Firefighters Manage to Stop Catastrophic Wildfire in Southwest France
04:06 GMT 15.08.2022 (Updated: 19:28 GMT 03.11.2022)
© AFP 2023 / CLEMENT MAHOUDEAUA picture shows a tree burned by a wildfire in Tarascon, southeastern France, on July 15, 2022. - An investigation was opened on July 15 on a fire, now contained, which covered 1,000 hectares and burnt through at least 300 hectares of the Montagnette forest massif south of Avignon. The fire was triggered on July 14 by sparks generated on a railroad track by a passing freight train, the prefecture said. (Photo by CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU / AFP)
© AFP 2023 / CLEMENT MAHOUDEAU
Subscribe
The megafire returned to blaze through the Gironde region of Southwestern France this past week after being dormant since early July when 49,421 acres (20,000 hectares) were burned and at least 40,000 people in France were forced to temporarily flee their homes.
Firefighters in France managed to stop the spread of the megafire that returned to the region of Gironde on Tuesday after lying dormant for roughly a month. The holdover fire or “zombie fire,” as it is colloquially referred to, is a fire which remains dormant underground (typically during winter months) and can return to its destructive blaze with the help of persistent dry conditions.
France: A great example of how fast things can change. Here in Gironde it seems like calm mop up until a fire tornado comes out of nowhere. The increase in wind is amazing. Stay heads up. 🎥: @FeuxdeForet_FR #europe #france #eu #wildfire #fire pic.twitter.com/oiNmbtXc1M
— TheHotshotWakeUp: Podcast (@HotshotWake) August 12, 2022
Temperatures in the area reached 104 Fahrenheit (40 Celsius) over the past week, contributing to the return of the wildfire.
On Saturday French officials announced that the megafire halted overnight thanks to “significant means employed,” including hundreds of auxiliaries across Europe who came to the aid of at least a thousand French firefighters to help control the catastrophic blaze, which forced 10,000 people in the Gironde region to evacuate their homes.
This past week in Brittany another wildfire burned 988 acres (400 hectares) of woods in what is known as the “King Arthur forest.” That fire has not been extinguished but it has been halted. In the Jura region of eastern France 1,235 acres (500 hectares) of land also burned, marking more than 148,263 acres (60,000 hectares) of land in France that has been burned so far this year.
"It's hard for me to think that I will not see this forest again like it was," said Hervé Trentin, a firefighter in Gironde who fought the blaze for 48 hours without resting. "I'm 53 years old, and this forest will need more than 30 years to recover."
"This is our forest,” he added, weeping. “It is heart-breaking to watch it burn."
France is now expected to experience a continuation of storms, including thunderstorms and heavy rain, this week which should drop temperatures and help mitigate the wildfires across the county.