In the municipal hall of Rove in the morning of this Saturday, July 5, there are several dozen to kill time. A coffee in one hand, a cigarette in the other, a cage cat or a dog sleeping at the foot of his mistress.
Since dawn, the village hall has become a provisional refuge for residents of the Calanque de la Vesse, evacuated when the fire, triggered to the first gleams of the day and burned more than 100 hectares, threatened their homes too closely.
A neighbor who wakes up the street, a father who shakes her son, a mother who catches her little one in pajamas without thinking. For many, the night has summed up that: a start and the fear that everything has left for smoke. Lucien, 22, still has his voice cut: “My father woke me up, he said to me: Take your papers, your passport, your wallet. I caught some family photos. When I got out, it was the apocalypse: smoke, flame reflections, a rain of ashes like a downpour. We just took the dog and we left.“
Claire, she kept Charly, her cat, in her transport cage. She caresses her ears to reassure him: “He is terrorized, he does not even drink anymore. We waited on the port of the Calanque, then the firefighters took us by the sea to the Estaque. It was when we wanted to come back that everything soar in 5 minutes.“
Next to it, a mom holds her daughter, quickly wrapped in a K-Way: “I couldn’t keep my cool. I got her out of the bed, she doesn’t even have a t-shirt under her coat, then I went to wake up the whole street! Frankly, when we see that, we understand the fear of people at war. It puts us putting us into perspective !”
The memory of 1989
In the room, discussions are always coming back to a figure: 1989. Marcello, 70, remembers it as if it was yesterday: “Everything had burned, the sheds, the houses … We saw ourselves! We were twelve kids, my father picked up us all, we went down to the beach. We had to flee by sea, there was no plan like today. The flames jumped the house, they took the chalet next to it. I thought I relive the same scene tonight.“The fire had ravaged more than 1,500 hectares at the time on August 1.
Lucien, him, too young for having lived him, listens: “All the ancients talk about it. It remains in the heads. This time, it was well managed. Firefighters, sailors, town hall … Everyone has done bloc.”
More “Orange light everywhere” and “this smell of unbearable burnt wood”, remain deeply striking here, “When I opened the door of the terrace, that I saw that, in a word, it was: anxiety“, Continues Marcello. Cigarette in hand in front of the room, his wife says that his first reflex before the evacuation was to water the lawn:”I watered my garden in case a embers is falling, it reassured me. But I was very afraid, of course.” “Here, we live in a magnificent place, but we know that it can start from nothing. A threw up thrown, a badly off barbecue, a firecracker … We hear lots of things. Neighbors say they heard firecrackers before it leaves. But it remains rumors, the investigation is in progress and will determine the causes, in any case, it is important to speak and“, Assures Lucien.
In a corner, Marcello tells whoever wants to hear the difference with “The Bazaar of 89”: “There everything is square. We had the info, the boats came, we were able to leave together. The police, the gendarmerie, the firefighters, all did a good job. And here we are well received. Elected officials are there, we have enough to drink, enough to eat. It’s a big family. We help ourselves, we reassure ourselves.“Between two sips of coffee, a woman slides:”We laugh a little, it helps. We tell ourselves that if it crame on, too bad. The house is walls, the essential is that we are all there.“
Arrived three months ago, the responsiveness of the mayor, Paul Sabatino, was largely underlined by the inhabitants. Present from the early hours this Saturday morning, he watches, alongside his elected officials, on the inhabitants. From 1 p.m., the inhabitants were able to return home, relieved and “With a great need for rest!“
