Life on the front line of Europe's battle against wildfires
French firefighters have won out over a massive blaze, with almost 200,000 evacuees returning home. But Europe's climate-fueled wildfire season is far from over. The
French firefighters have won out over a massive blaze, with almost 200,000 evacuees returning home. But Europe's climate-fueled wildfire season is far from over. The signal to move comes suddenly — and within a minute or so the fire truck is full and speeding off into the distance, a cloud of orange dust swirling in its wake. "There's always a bit of adrenaline when you get the call," marine firefighter Julien says. "But we're trained; we're prepared." Maitre Julien — whom DW can only identity by rank and first name — is part of Marseille-based battalion deployed to France's Gironde region to tackle a wildfire which prompted the largest evacuations in the country since World War II. Some 264 firefighters were injured in the fight against the Gironde fire, four of whom lost their lives. In nearby towns, French flags still fly at half mast to mark the loss. "It's always on our mind," Lieutenant Damien, another marine firefighter, explains as his team members haul the firehose out behind him. Firefighters are still tackling a wildfire near Bordeaux Image: Emma Da Silva/AP Photo/picture alliance Big battles on little sleep Letitia, a firefighter and medic, said she tries to ask how colleagues are feeling "without being too intrusive." "It's the fatigue above all," she says when asked about the most common problem affecting her colleagues. "They're sleeping very little." "Do you see all all of that?" Maitre Julien asks, gesturing out the car window as he drives past rows of blackened trees and swathes of scorched earth at the roadside. "All of that's already burned. But you can see small peels of smoke here and there. We absolutely have to extinguish those so fires don't restart." When Julien pulls up at another hotspot, the risk of flare-ups comes sharply into focus: The air smells burned and a cloud of white smoke fills the sky.
Within about 20 minutes, the smoke turns thick and black, and the fire — previously under control — was visible burning bright again through the trees. No respite for France's firefighters battling wildfires To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Here by the firefighters' side are improvised teams of local volunteers — farmers and tradesmen and women who took it upon themselves to use their tractors or vans or four-by-fours to transport water to firefighters on the front line, and often head into the blazes themselves without proper protective gear or training. "We're here because we're needed. And because we want to help," Steven Page, one volunteer, told DW. Maitre Julien said they played a "primordial" role, saving firefighters "precious time" in the fight. Winning a 'David and Goliath' fight, together At times, firefighters said, this felt like a "David and Goliath" battle. But they came out on top. By Saturday, France's Interior Ministry declared the fire was no longer progressing. Most of the 220,000 evacuees were allowed to return home. Elsewhere in Europe, the heat of battle is far from over: Wildfires have also been raging in Greece and Spain — other countries are likely to face fires in the coming months too. That's keeping EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib busy. She visited Bordeaux on Thursday, meeting local officials in Ornano fire station's crisis room and learning how they felled trees and vegetation across 150 kilometers (93 miles) of land to create tactical firebreaks and prevent the flames from reaching the city. Dotted around the green lines on the map representing firebreaks are different European flags: Germany, Slovakia, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Czechia, Switzerland, Turkey — some of the countries that sent firefighting aircraft, firefighting crews, and technical teams through the EU's crisis management mechanism.
The BriefWire