This could be yet another post about the heatwave that has dogged us since June, and with daytime high temperatures never less than 30ºC until today, it could also be quite accurate. But no, today's edition is firmly dedicated to the real fire that has occupied most of our senses for nearly a week now.
n Monday we went to Terra Botanica near Angers to enjoy a bit of "us" time and celebrate the day. We got there just after opening, planning to leave at about 3pm before the heat got too much for us. Once our noses were turned in a homeward direction (slightly North East), we thought that the sky looked a bit murky - on a day when it was pretty solidly blue! Once off the motorway, we decided that it wasn't cloud, it was smoke and spent a happy few kilometres guessing which bit of woodland downwind from us it was. All too soon it became clear that it was woodland to the North East of us, and that wasn't happy news! This is our first clear view.
We could also smell it. Once home, social media provided all the gossip we needed to know that it was a serious fire, that it was too close to some friends for comfort and that it wasn't going to be sorted quickly. A late evening chat with the grandson of our neighbours gave a hint as to the number of fire fighters being called in and the distances. The following morning, the house stank of smoke - the windows were open overnight to allow us to cool the house down. The pall of smoke hung over the village and the rumour mill was running big time. A hairdresser's appointment was a brilliant way for me to pick up on the scale of what was going on, although very sad to hear that my hairdresser had had to send her children and animals away to stay with her parents, so that they weren't too badly affected. The evening view of the smoke was dramatic!
There are lots of issues with social media, but in this instance, it did show its value too. The local authority and local community group pages were kept updated on the facts, stopping rumours about masked bands of arsonists, and flights of fancy about hunters, while showing the scale of the fire and the damage. More constructively, there were also threads on how to offer help, food, goods, the use of horse boxes and cattle trucks, and how staying away was just as useful. A thread at 10pm on Tuesday night, asking for mattresses for the firefighters that had come vast distances to help, prompted a magnificent display, such that the 200 required were provided within half an hour. Maps, satellite views and overlays demonstrated the scale of the problem.
Visiting the Boys in the Country, downwind of the fire, to make sure they were OK and that they were well fed and watered brought a whole new set of panic to us. We found a t-shirt I had left out to dry covered in ash, pieces of pine bark charred from the fire littered the Garden, and a singed oak leaf was by the building. We had a mass of activity ensuring that combustibles were moved away from the building and put a few buckets of water on the roof in case, but fortunately no more cinder storms happened.
We have done our bit by staying away from the fire and the exclusion zone that has been put in place around it until Tuesday next week. We did learn a whole new jargon for wildfire fighting including the important difference between fixé, or contained and maitrisé or controlled, while that nirvana of éteint or out is still a long way off. The fire ripped through pine forest and mixed forest, and pine is a real danger in these circumstances, with resinous cores that can keep burning quietly until an unfavourable wind hits. Parts of the area are peat based, which also keeps burning underground unless there is a really solid dousing, and means that the fire can pop up again when it finds a nice pine root and a bit of wind. It will be weeks until they are convinced that it is fully out. This aerial photo from the paper shows a tiny part of the damaged area.
Overall some 1,450 hectares have burned and the perimeter of the fire is 21 kilometres. At its height 90 people were evacuated from their homes (not including those that chose to leave in case), but thanks to amazing work by firefighters supported by some 90 farmers as well as hundreds of volunteers, the local councillors and staff, no homes or buildings were destroyed, and there were only two injuries, both to firefighters (one hurt their arm, one inhaled smoke). A friend with bees lost only one hive out of 200 or more. But the damage and the desolation will take a long time to repair - Mother Nature has her work cut out again. The exclusion zone is shown here - the purple line.
While at the height of the fire there were over 100 engines, over 400 firefighters, 3 Dash aircraft (they land to refill their water tanks but can drop fire retardant products), and the local farmers with water tanks working away, numbers have reduced. I think we are now down to 50 or so firefighters and some very fine fire engines (yesterday, parked up while people rested and had a bite to eat). The smell of fire has gone too, damped down by last night's rain.
Thanks to all those who worked tirelessly and selflessly. I hope their efforts are never needed again round here in this way.
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