Forest fires: three departments on red alert and two aggravating factors
Several departments are under alert despite the recent drop in temperatures. Météo France placed six departments on orange alert this Wednesday, July 16, due to the risk of forest fires. These departments include the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Ardèche, Aude, Drôme, Gard, and Hérault. Thirty-eight others are on yellow alert. Please note that three departments remain on red alert: Bouches-du-Rhône, Var, and Vaucluse. "Since the beginning of summer, it hasn't rained for 60 days in Bouches-du-Rhône," said Commander Stéphane Guyot of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS 13), in an interview with RTL.
That's not all, on Thursday, July 17, two departments will maintain the maximum alert level (red): Bouches-du-Rhône and Vaucluse. After the violent fires that hit the Marseille region, the risk now hangs over several regions. The authorities emphasize the importance of prevention: "no open fires, no abandoned waste, no cigarettes in the forest or on the roadside. It is essential to report any suspicious smoke by calling 18 or 112," indicates the website Forest and Natural Area Fires .
All of the departments listed above are experiencing particularly favorable conditions for fires this week. These could be greatly favored by a mistral wind that could reach 70 km/h in some places. "The risk of forest and vegetation fires starting and spreading is very high compared to summer norms," estimates Météo France. In the Bouches-du-Rhône department, the mistral wind will not stop until Friday, July 18.
Furthermore, "This dry vegetation condition is conducive to fire outbreaks. It is also very unusual for early July, similar to remarkable years like 2017," explains the weather station. The drought caused by the heatwave that occurred between late June and early July also favors the proliferation of fires, with the drying out of certain plants.
Météo France specifies that the very high level of forest fires (red) corresponds to "meteorological conditions (which) make the risk of the outbreak and spread of forest and vegetation fires very high." The orange alert level, on the other hand, refers to "conditions that significantly increase the risk of the outbreak and spread of forest and vegetation fires compared to summer norms and the risk of fires may be very high locally," we finally learned.
L'Internaute
