«The night was very calm. The fire on Bordezac is on the way to being settled very well. But on such a large fire, it is still too early to say that there will be no more occasions, hot spots», Commander Bernard Scotto, in charge of communication for the Gard firefighters, explained to AFP.
The intervention device deployed on the spot, reduced Saturday evening to 350 men, remains unchanged for the moment. «The relief operations commander will decide during the day, after a tour of the area, if we can still withdraw men. But we are clearly on a favorable slope,» said Commander Scotto.
However, the weather remains at «severe risk» in the sector, with a wind between 40 and 50 km / h and a temperature exceeding 30 degrees. “We therefore remain very vigilant,” he insisted.
“Our priority is to treat the entire circumference of the fire meter by meter, on the edge between what has burned and what has not burned, this is where we can have fire starts” , explained the spokesman for the fire department.
«It is also feared that in the middle of the 650 hectares burned, there are still unburned copses which ignite and produce sparks which reach the green zone. They must therefore also be treated quickly,» added the officer. .
To do this, the firefighters have a water bomber helicopter on the site to operate «surgical strikes» on all the outbreaks of fire that may occur. In the event of an emergency, national air assets would be called in as reinforcements.
Leaving the hamlet of Bordezac around 5:00 p.m. Thursday, this disaster mobilized up to 950 men, but caused no casualties.