Residents unable to return home as firemen attempt to control blaze in southern France
Record ID:
904262
Residents unable to return home as firemen attempt to control blaze in southern France
- Title: Residents unable to return home as firemen attempt to control blaze in southern France
- Date: 26th July 2017
- Summary: BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, FRANCE (JULY 26, 2017) (REUTERS) FIRE SERVICE VEHICLES PARKED WITH SMOKE RISING FROM FOREST FIRE IN HILLS BLAZE IN FOREST EMITTING CLOUDS OF SMOKE FIREMAN GETTING INTO CAR TRUCK DRIVING OFF TRUCK DRIVING WITH SMOKE CLOUDS IN SKY SMOKE RISING FROM FLAMES IN FOREST SMOKE RISING VARIOUS OF TRACKER PLANES FLYING IN SMOKE SMOKE RISING CIVIL SECURITY HELICOPTER FLYING FIRE TRUCKS PARKED VARIOUS OF FIREFIGHTERS WORKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF FIREFIGHTER RESCUE OPERATIONS FROM BRIGNOLES, SERGE LAVIALLE, SAYING: "So currently we have a considerable return of the fire as you can see behind me, so all of our teams are concentrated on the left side to limit the spread on the left side, to avoid the fire coming down to the village of Bormes." JOURNALIST TALKING TO LAVIALLE (SOUNDBITE) (French) HEAD OF FIREFIGHTER RESCUE OPERATIONS FROM BRIGNOLES, SERGE LAVIALLE, SAYING: "So, currently, all the fires are concentrated on the inside of our working zone, so the fire is not moving right or left at this time. We still have 1,300 hectares which have been burnt. For the moment, the fire is not spreading outwards, but currently we are going to see some breakouts, and that's the reason why we are going to focus all our teams on the left side." MAYOR OF BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, FRANCOIS ARIZZI, TALKING TO LAVIALLE AND GROUP OF OTHERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAYOR OF BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, FRANCOIS ARIZZI, SAYING: "They (the evacuations) were very well co-ordinated by our rescue services, both by the police and the town services. People were more or less ready and had prepared themselves well in advance so people didn't panic and people did what they had to do and listened to us and followed our advice. For the moment, it's going well but it's true that people are starting to become impatient and they would like to return to their homes and holiday residences but that, on the other hand, is not at all possible." POLICEMAN'S T-SHIRT READING (French): "POLICE" / GROUP TALKING (SOUNDBITE) (French) MAYOR OF BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, FRANCOIS ARIZZI, SAYING: "Very bad news, it's likely to be impossible this evening in light of the fires you can see behind us, without reinforcements from the air we won't make it, we won't manage to let them go back to their homes this evening. So we have tried to have the best logistical planning possible with the town of Lavandou to put them up." FIRE LORRY DRIVING ALONG ROAD
- Embargoed: 9th August 2017 14:53
- Keywords: fire wildfire evacuation France smoke firefighters fire truck Bormes-les-Mimosas
- Location: BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, FRANCE
- City: BORMES-LES-MIMOSAS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Fires
- Reuters ID: LVA0016RCU3BB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Locals and holiday makers in the south of France whose homes were put at risk by wildfires will be forced to stay once more in temporary shelters on Wednesday (July 26) night, as firefighters continued their attempts to control the blazes.
Firefighters evacuated thousands of campers and local residents after a wildfire broke out on France's tourist-thronged Riviera coast overnight on Tuesday (July 25) to Wednesday (July 26).
The blaze was the latest of several wind-whipped fires that are ravaging forest and scrubland on the hills and slopes that spill into the Mediterranean Sea between the Marseilles and the city of Nice in the southeastern corner of France.
Hundreds of firefighters fought the blaze with planes and helicopters dropping tonnes of water on the tinder box hills where fires regularly break out in summer time, often as a result of a carelessly discarded cigarette butt.
Serge Lavialle, head of firefighter rescue operations from Brignoles, said that the teams were concentrating on the left side of the blaze where they could see some potential overflowing flames in order to prevent a spread down to the town of Bormes.
Mayor of Bormes-les-Mimosas, Francois Arizzi, said that he was satisfied with how people were reacting to the situation but said it was impossible at this stage to allow them to return to their homes for the night. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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