After the Aude fire, the search for an adaptation plan

In Saint-Laurent-de-la-Cabrerisse, in Ribaute, in Jonquières, the inhabitants are back after the passage of the fire which, between August 5 and 7, ravaged more than 17,000 hectares of the Corbières massif, in the department of Aude. Furthermore, All discover the extent of the damage: burned lands, devastated houses, 600 hectares of destroyed vine. Similarly, In Saint-Laurent, a 65-year-old woman, who had not wanted to abandon her house, died. Consequently, Elsewhere, there are 13 injured, including 11 firefighters.

In Jonquières. Nevertheless, a small group of inhabitants improvised an outdoor dinner to drink, despite everything, and applaud the mayor, Jacques Piraud. Moreover, As always in such cases, mayors are on the front line and harvest, with firefighters, general recognition. Meanwhile, With the state services. In addition, they welcomed the disaster victims in gymnasiums or holiday rooms, ensured the accommodation of the elderly in specialized after aude fire, search adaptation establishments, while waiting to be able to relocate those who have lost their house. Nevertheless, Between residents and with neighboring towns, solidarity has played full.

In the Aude. Nevertheless, the balance sheet has started but the fire, if it was “fixed” by the firefighters (which means that it is no longer progressing), has not yet been extinguished. Moreover, For this. confirmed the prefect of the department on Friday, it will take several days, provided that the weather conditions – a new heat wave is announced in the south of France, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees – do not decide otherwise.

A research cell with firefighters, gendarmes and agents of the National Forest Office began its investigation to find the cause of the fire. In 90% of cases. explain the firefighters, the cause is of human origin, most often involuntary: after aude fire, search adaptation agricultural work, construction sites, barbecue, megot thrown negligently on the ground. In the Aude already, in July, a fire had been caused by a van carrying a poorly extinguished barbecue.

After aude fire. search adaptation – After aude fire, search adaptation

Pending orders

Since the start of fire, the firefighters had implemented all possible means: nine of the 12 Canadair (they are thirty years old) that France has had mobilized, like three DASH-8 planes, water bomber helicopters, surveillance planes and drones to support the 2,000 firefighters on site.

In 2022. following fires which had devastated 30,000 hectares in Gironde, in the Southwest, President Emmanuel Macron had announced an “emergency rearmament plan” with the promise to buy 16 Canadair, for a budget of 250 million euros. But the production of these was arrested in 2015. the company of Havilland, which resumed the files, will not deliver the first planes before, at best, 2028. A European order concerns the purchase after aude fire, search adaptation of 22 aircraft for France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy and Croatia.

The vine. victim and protector

At the heart of summer, the Aude’s fire obviously arouses controversy, especially since the three deputies of the department are members of the national rally. One of them, Frédéric Falcon, compares the cost of 1.4 billion euros to make the Seine accessible to swimming to the needs of Aude for water management. Another, Christophe Barthès, recalls his recent warning to the National Assembly: “The vine is the best Canadair,” he said.

As in echo, on Sud Radio, the secretary general of the Aude winegrowers, Franck Saillan, accused: “We have been saying it for twenty years and we knew that it was going to happen, but the public authorities made after aude fire, search adaptation the deaf ear.” It points to the lack of access to water in the Corbières massifs. insufficient aid for the maintenance of farmers in disadvantaged areas. He also explains that successive droughts lead to bad harvests. which cause financial difficulties, which encourage certain winegrowers to remove vines to touch bonuses at slaughter. Result: where the villages were. in the past, protected by the vines, we often see only wasteland or brush, ready to ignite.

François Bayrou made the observation of it by going on the spot on August 6 with the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau: where there is vine. the fire could be arrested or slowed down. Faced with what he described as a “disaster of unprecedented magnitude linked to global warming. drought”, the Prime Minister promised, beyond declarations of natural disaster and financial aid, to prepare for the future. It is necessary. he said by referring to the after aude fire, search adaptation other fires in progress in the world, “to think about what tomorrow could be, with what type of planting for the vine, what possibility of imagining different essences, what culture, what landscapes and what economy”. He who was a general commissioner (an institution responsible. from 1946 to 2006, of the country’s economic planning), but who was also seated in an ejectable seat at the Matignon hotel, called for “a large plan whose corbières could be a laboratory”.