Forest Fire Alert: Corsica and Nice Region Face High Risk

The week was marked by two fires, in Corsica and near Nice. The Var is on red alert, the Bouches-du-Rhône in orange.

The risk of forest fires will be “very high” Sunday in the Var, announced Friday Météo France which placed the department on red alert with the return of the wind.

The firefighters deployed a preventive system by positioning intervention groups on the ground. Eight forest massifs, including the very touristy islands of Hyères, Maures or Esterel, are prohibited from access. The high temperatures, the dryness of the vegetation and the wind forecast for the next four days justify the adoption of these measures.

Same thing in the Bouches-du-Rhône, on orange forest fire alert where seven massifs are closed including the emblematic creeks.

In Haute-Corse, the forest massifs of Fango, Bonifato and the Territory of Agriate are also inaccessible. In Montpellier, the city announced the closure of the zoological park for the same reasons.

For Monday, Météo France has already placed four departments (Bouches-du-Rhône, Gard, Vaucluse, Var) on orange alert in the face of a high risk of fires starting.

The wind at the start of the week had already placed firefighters on alert in the south-east of France, with multiple outbreaks of fires quickly brought under control and two significant fires. The red alert was triggered on Monday for the first time since the launch in early June of this device, which should make it possible to alert the population to the risk of starting fires.

Since the beginning of the summer, several massifs of the Bouches-du-Rhône, but also other departments of the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur region, had already been prohibited from access to avoid any start of fire. Nine out of ten fires are of human origin and mainly the result of imprudence, still reminds Météo-France.

The first in Haute-Corse, which had threatened three villages above L’Ile-Rousse, covered 200 hectares overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday. The other, in the hinterland of Nice, began Thursday towards Bairols (Alpes-Maritimes), in an area far from dwellings.

Firefighters said on Sunday that the fire was now “fixed”. The flames broke out in an inaccessible area of ​​this village in the Tinée valley, in the hinterland of Nice, threatening no homes, and followed several fires that broke out during the week in Gréolières and Falicon or on the coast, in Cagnes-sur-Mer.

If the fire is now contained, the firefighters specify however that they still have to deal with a hot spot detected during their night monitoring. They were supported in particular by a water bomber helicopter which has carried out more than 190 drops since Thursday.

After a devastating summer 2022 in terms of forest fires in France, the Météo-France forest weather report was launched in early June. This new map presents the degree of risk at the departmental level by a color code ranging from green to red (very high) through yellow and orange (high).

It is published every day during the summer period, at least until the end of September, and available on the Météo-France website and mobile application. It will thus be done alongside the beach weather forecast or the marine weather forecast. This type of card is already present in other countries such as Canada, the United States, Spain or Greece.

Update at 12:15 p.m. with precision on closed forests.

2023-07-30 10:31:26
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