- Environment
- Fires
On Monday, some 8,000 people were evacuated as a precaution from La Teste-de-Buch because of the spreading fire. In total, in Gironde, nearly 37,000 people have had to leave their homes.
ByClaire Mayer(Bordeaux (France) correspondent) and Florence Moreau(Bordeaux (France) correspondent)
4 min read
Lire en français- Share
- Share on Facebook
- Share by email
- Share on Linkedin
Subscribers only
"We took some toiletries, our dog, our important documents, and we left." In the middle of the afternoon on Monday, July 18, Chantal Baseden and her husband drove to Arcachon, four kilometers from their home. While the fire that has raged for six days in La Teste-de-Buch has so far spared their residential area near the Dune du Pilat, they have now been evacuated. Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Mendousse, a communications officer for the fire and rescue service (SDIS) of Gironde, called it "a precautionary measure, because the winds are starting to push the toxic smoke towards homes."
"The smoke has been dense and acrid since this morning. But we didn't expect to be evacuated," added Chantal's sister-in-law, Nathalie Baseden, who also lives in the area. In total, about 8,000 people have had to leave the area of La Teste-de-Buch: 3,000 in Pyla-sur-Mer and 5,000 in the Miquelots neighborhood, in the same district of Arcachon. In total, more than 37,000 people, residents or holidaymakers, have had to leave their accommodation due to the fires in Gironde, where nearly 19,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed by fire since July 12. In the area of La Teste-de-Buch, 6,500 hectares of forest have now gone.
Read more Europe continues to burn as heat wave breaks records across continent
"This morning, we woke up with the smell of smoke," said Louise Willot, on vacation with her sister and their children. Worried, they tried to get information, then began to hear police sirens. "I dropped everything, took some things, we woke up the children (it was their nap time), and we left," she explained on the phone, on the road to Bordeaux where she lives. A small distance away, on the heights of Pyla, Florence Droz was still waiting in the afternoon to know where she would end up going with her husband and their two grandchildren aged 7 and 9. They were given a warning at 2 pm by police officers who "went by in the street with loudspeakers asking us to leave in 30 minutes." She then got into her car with her grandchildren and ended up at the home of friends, further down, in Moulleau.
"As soon as we arrived, my friends received a phone call asking them to evacuate as well." Ms. Droz left again, this time to another friend's place in Abatilles. "And there, they were also warned that there was a risk of evacuation." Having lived in California in the United States, she said that she knows how fires work, and had taken the initiative: After getting information from a telephone number found online, she left at 6:30 am to park her car two kilometers from her home, "so as not to leave it in the garage," with a few belongings in the trunk.
You have 59.54% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil.
Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois
Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil.
Découvrir les offres multicomptes-
Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil.
Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur, téléphone ou tablette).
-
Comment ne plus voir ce message ?
En cliquant sur «» et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte.
-
Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici ?
Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil. Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte.
-
Y a-t-il d’autres limites ?
Non. Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez, mais en les utilisant à des moments différents.
-
Vous ignorez qui est l’autre personne ?
Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe.
Lecture restreinte
Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article
Pour plus d’informations, merci de contacter notre service commercial.