10 common misconceptions about forest fires, put to the test

False

2022 proved this: the Monts d’Arrée in Brittany, Maine-et-Loire, the Jura… and the Gironde, for the record. Climate change is extending the risk zone northwards and westwards, and the Forest weather now covers the whole of mainland France. Areas that are ‘vulnerable’ to fire — where residents are unprepared and houses have never had their surrounding undergrowth cleared — are even more at risk.

False

The national fleet (around forty aircraft for the whole country) is deployed according to operational priorities, and many fires are tackled solely from the ground. On days when there are multiple fires, the aircraft are directed to the most critical emergencies. Protection that doesn’t depend on anyone : your brush cutting and your pre-built house. See also effective measures.

False (dangerous)

At water level, the air is stiflingly hot and thick with fumes — your airways burn before your skin does. A small swimming pool surrounded by vegetation is a trap; documented cases of survival in a swimming pool are the exception, not the rule. The right refuge: the solid-built house, enclosed. (The swimming pool, for its part, is used by the fire brigade as a water reserve.)

False

In strong winds, a fire sends up sparks flying several hundred metres away (“leaps of fire”): motorways, rivers and even inlets are regularly crossed. This is also why the brandons — not the wall of flames — destroy most of the houses.

True

Approximately 9 out of 10, according to public data (BDIFF): carelessness, accidents, malicious acts. Lightning strikes account for only a small proportion. More than half of the fires are caused by simple negligence — cigarette ends, building work, barbecues — and therefore by unnecessary actions.

False (the deadliest)

The evacuation is taking place on order or well in advance — never at the last minute: most victims of major fires are caught unawares on the roads, in the smoke, or whilst fleeing on foot. If the fire is already there and no orders have been given: lockdown in the brick-built house. It’s all explained in ‘During the fire’.

False

Regulatory brush-clearing is a task involving discontinuity : short grass, shrubs in small clusters, trees retained but spaced out and pruned. A well-maintained OLD site retains its beautiful trees — and can remain a true garden. The full method: do my brush-clearing.

False

That’s not allowed all year round, throughout France, whether supervised or not: a €450 fine, and overwhelming liability if the fire gets out of control. Grass clippings and prunings should be taken to the recycling centre, shredded or composted. Full details: fire, barbecue, burning — the law.

True

Two to ten times faster: the flames preheat the vegetation above them, causing it to catch fire all the more easily. Hence the hiker’s rule of survival: never run uphill away from a fire — The diagrams are here.

False

The next few hours present three dangers: the embers which are smouldering (the 24–48-hour patrol saves the houses), the weakened trees which fall without warning, and — with the first rains — theerosion and mudslides bare hillsides. Instructions: First steps to take after a fire.