The firefighters of Isère were mobilized this Thursday, August 24 on two fronts, due to major wildfires in Gillonnay near the Côte-Saint-André, then in Choranche, in the Vercors. A firefighting marathon that continues this Friday even if the fires are under control. In total, eighteen hectares of vegetation were covered by the fire.
The firefighters of Isère spent the night in the Vercors trying to put out a brush fire which broke out on Thursday August 24, in the town of Choranche, near the hamlet of Nugues.
The fire broke out around 9:30 p.m. in an uninhabited and very difficult to access area, near the Col de Tous Aures, which considerably hampered the work of the professionals.
The fire fixed, nine hectares burned
Nine hectares of vegetation went up in smoke. The fire was contained at 7:14 a.m. this Friday morning, the fire is therefore fixed and is no longer progressing. “About fifty firefighters are still on site to ‘drown’ and extinguish the various secondary outbreaks”we explain to the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) of Isère.
Firefighters remain very vigilant due to the high temperatures and the forecast weather forecast. The temperatures, cool this morning, will gradually rise with a little wind expected in the area. The fear of seeing the fire regain strength in the late morning or early afternoon is serious.
This Friday morning, the fire is fixed in Choranche in the Vercors but around fifty firefighters are still on site to “drown” and extinguish the various secondary fires. • © Sdis de l’Isère
Up to 100 firefighters were dispatched to the scene that night. But it was necessary to call on remote pilot units of thermal drones and a team specialized in inaccessible terrain to manage to frame this fire.
These six firefighters are able to trudge with more than 20 kilos of equipment on their backs to reach winding areas where motorized vehicles cannot go, deploying kilometers of hoses. They carry extinguishing means on foot, but also “forestry equipment”.
They are the only ones to have this qualification in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes within this helicopter detachment. They are sometimes brought to the site by a helicopter, which was not the case last night. Their skills are recognized internationally since some of them were recently hired on fires in Canada.
No casualties were reported. Twenty people were evacuated from a shelter. The occupants spent the night in the communal hall of Presles, but they should be able to return to their accommodation because the area is not threatened.
Departmental 292 is still closed and will only be reopened after verification to see if charred trees are not obstructing the road or are not a risk for traffic.
Firefighters also remind us that fire is not a show. They ask everyone not to come on site to see them work because the area is dangerous.
Yesterday, at midday, the firefighters of Isère had been mobilized on another front, near Côte-Saint-André. A forestry work machine caught fire in the town of Gillonnay around 1 p.m. The fire spread to the vegetation, requiring the intervention of a hundred professionals at the height of the operation.
The device was reduced at night after the fire was fixed. But this Friday morning, about fifty firefighters were redeployed to take advantage of the coolness of the morning to carry out the heavy work of cleaning and treating the fumaroles.
A little over 9 hectares have been covered by the flames, five have completely burned.
The three forest zones of the department of Isère monitored. Two zones are classified as severe hazard level. The western zone passed, this Thursday, August 24, in very severe hazard level. • © Prefecture of Isère
This Thursday, the Isère prefecture stepped up coercive measures in the forest to avoid any fire starting “due to the current drought, accompanied by a period of heat wave and absence of precipitation”.
“In areas exposed to the risk of forest fire and within 200 meters of these, agricultural and forestry work is prohibited, with exceptions over a time slot extending from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m., until to Monday August 28 inclusive”authorities said in a statement.
The department of Isère is divided into three forest zones. This Thursday, August 24, the western zone went into a “very severe” hazard level. It extends from Pont-de-Chéruy to Beaurepaire on a north-south axis and from Péage-de-Roussillon to Seyssinet-Paris and from west to east (see map above).
The prefecture also indicates that “the use of fireworks and firecrackers is also prohibited throughout the department until Monday August 28, 2023 inclusive”.
From June 15 to September 15, it is, moreover, “prohibited from carrying and lighting a fire, smoking, throwing cigarette butts and any burning objects inside and within 200 meters of woods and forests (prefectural decree of April 28, 2017)”.
Finally, the government announced yesterday that the department of Isère would benefit from a subsidy of 931,167 euros to help it finance, in particular, the purchase of seven vehicles to fight against forest fires.
This money was released as part of the 150 million euro fund for fire and rescue services, announced by the Head of State in October 2022, “to face the consequences of climate change and the evolution of fires”.
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