Var wildfire stabilised at 1,800 hectares as France's fires come 'under control', PM says

Var fire stabilised

The wildfire that broke out on Friday 31 July near Montfort-sur-Argens in the Var department has not expanded since Saturday night, prefect Simon Babre said on Sunday morning. The fire has burned approximately 1,800 hectares and forced the evacuation of about 2,500 people from the "Provence verte" area between the Mediterranean and the Verdon gorges. Most evacuation orders were lifted on Sunday, and residents of the village centres of Montfort-sur-Argens and Correns were allowed to return home. The departmental road that had been closed was reopened to the public. It is the fourth large blaze firefighters have faced since 19 July in central Var, a region of vineyards, olive groves and typical light-stone villages.

There is no change in the fire's perimeter, so firefighters are continuing work on hotspots and edge treatment on Sunday morning.

Around 1,500 firefighters remain deployed, supported by aerial assets, to contain the fire and prevent it from reaching the hearts of Correns, Carcès, Montfort-sur-Argens and other communes. The fire started around 1:30 p.m. on Friday south of the larger Gros Bessillon blaze that had been declared fixed four days earlier after consuming 4,500 hectares. That earlier fire had forced some 5,000 people to leave their homes over several days.

Nationwide picture

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu told La Tribune Dimanche that the fires across France are "today under control," though he cautioned that the situation remains "very changeable." In Gironde, the mega-fire that burned 42,000 hectares has been declared fixed, and the prefecture said the situation is "more stable." Lecornu urged tourists to return to the department as "an act of solidarity," after prefect Sophie Brocas had advised against travel there a week earlier.

The Gironde fire destroyed 240 homes, with 183 of those in the village of Le Porge alone. Lecornu rejected accusations from some residents that authorities sacrificed their houses to protect the Cap Ferret peninsula, calling the claims "false" and saying the pain is being "instrumentalised by conspiracy theorists on social media." He stressed that firefighters make decisions based on a single criterion: saving human lives.

I tell them that is false. Their pain is being instrumentalised by conspiracy theorists on social media. Firefighters take their decisions according to one criterion: saving human lives.

Firefighter health warning

The SUD union's spokesperson, Rémy Chabbouh, warned on franceinfo that "we are on the verge of a health disaster in the ranks of firefighters," citing a lack of proper equipment. He said firefighters are intervening with "bits of fabric over their mouths and noses" because they lack filtering hoods. Four firefighters have died in interventions in recent weeks, he noted. In Gironde, more than 330 firefighters received medical treatment during the operation, though no lives were lost among the public. In the Var, the prefecture distributed masks to residents in affected communes as smoke and ash spread widely.

We are on the verge of a health disaster in the ranks of firefighters. We intervene with bits of fabric over our mouths and noses.

Reconstruction and outlook

Lecornu announced that a national coordinator, attached to the prime minister's office, will be appointed to manage the reconstruction of areas devastated by fires that have burned more than 117,000 hectares of forest in France since the start of the year. In the Var, the prefect warned that the situation remains "extremely precarious" and could change "at any moment" because of wind and unbearable heat. The department has seen nearly 5,600 hectares burn in July, approaching the 6,841 hectares burned in the entire 2021 season.