Fire has consumed 650 hectares in the Cevennes since Thursday. It "cannot continue" but is under close surveillance. A reduced device will be used for Saturday night to Sunday. This comes after one day of fire.
"At this point the fire is lit. He is unable to continue. We have now passed the critical stage," Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Agrinier (communication officer for Gard firefighters), announced Saturday morning, reducing to 520 firefighters 150 vehicles the mobilization of the Gard device "for the day" in order to continue treatment of many kilometers of edges.
Saturday evening Commander Jerome Jallet announced that the system would be further reduced, and that there would still be 350 firefighters on the ground. He stated that there was only one resumption fire today and that there were a few hot spots which were quickly addressed.
However, even though the outbreaks may have diminished in intensity, weather conditions are still worrying in the area," said this Gard firefighter. He recalls that temperatures of around 40 degrees were recorded with gusts and unfavorable Hydrometry during the day.
"For the night we are told that winds gust up to 40 km/h, temperatures between 20 and 25 degrees, and hydrometry (percentage humidity in the air) are still low at 30%. This is critical even though we reached 13% in afternoon." Commander Jallet continued: "As long there are hot spots, we don't know the weather conditions or the wind, and that there are swings of fire, it is impossible to say that the fire has been put out of control.
The disaster mobilized up 950 men to leave the hamlet Bordezac at 5:00 p.m. on Thursday. However, there were no casualties. Lieutenant-Colonel Alagrinier said that the firefighters received air support on Saturday to help "treat inaccessible hotspots with surgical strikes from helicopters".
The Heliskid was also used by the firefighters during the day. This is a 3,000-litre tank that can easily be lifted for water. This unique French tool, available only to Gard firefighters, allows them to quickly deal with difficult-to-access hot spots.
The Gard department was also affected daily by fires - more than 30 fire starts on Friday and 28 on Thursday. It was placed under constant surveillance.
According to Midi Libre, a fire broke out in the outskirts Ales at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. According to Midi Libre, the fire started when "several firecrackers" were lit at the end the evening.
"Fire set. No casualties. "No homes affected," Gard firefighters stated on Twitter at 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Fixed fire. No casualties. No homes affected. https://t.co/JPg32anyuz
On Saturday, in Saint-Christol-les-Ales, the massive commitment of three forest fire intervention groups supported by a water bomber helicopter saved a campsite and a business park from leisure activities threatened by a plant fire outbreak and to limit the loss to 5,000 m2.
Thursday saw another fire engulf 230 hectares in the direction of Generac, south of the department. The same town was also affected by a fire that erupted in August 2019 on 800 hectares. It resulted in the death of the pilot in an accident.
The fire in the Cevennes has been put out. It is now far away from the approximately 5,000 hectares that were destroyed by fire in 1985.
The largest fires in France this year were at Canjuers (Var), which burned 1,800 hectares. Also, at the end June, the Pyrenees Orientales went up in flames with 1,250 ha.
The Directorate General of Civil Security advised that "the Mediterranean region" be watched "due to the very high risk of fires".
