«It’s historic», according to the authorities who speak of fires on «an unprecedented scale».
A total of four fires blackened the massifs of the Petite Montagne du Jura, in the south-east of the department, the two still progressing on Sunday morning having been finally fixed in the afternoon.
The most important, which began on Tuesday, ravaged for some 700 hectares in the sector of Vescles and Cernon, and was declared «fixed» Sunday afternoon, in particular thanks to «a first rainy episode» and the drops of delaying products by a Dash plane, according to the prefecture.
A situation in clear «improvement», while Sunday morning, the authorities alerted on «a risk of propagation of several hundred hectares».
Not far from there, another fire which broke out on Saturday near the town of Montlainsia and consumed 200 hectares of forest, also no longer nibbled away on Sunday.
However, the precipitation raises fears of landslides in the charred areas, a hamlet having been evacuated as a precaution in Menouille after an emergency expertise carried out by the Geological and Mining Research Bureau (BRGM).
In the Cornod and Sarrogna sectors, the two fires were declared extinguished on Sunday morning. 162 hectares burned there.
A total of 279 firefighters are fighting these fires, those of the Jura being supported by reinforcements from six departments in the east and center of the country.
Four Canadair, two water bomber helicopters and Dash planes also supported the ground combat of firefighters, unheard of in eastern France.
Farmers have also lent a hand by pumping water from rivers to drown roadsides and prevent the spread.
The Jura has been classified at the ultimate drought level since August 1, in a “crisis” situation.
The previous significant fire in this department dated back to 2018. 110 hectares had gone up in smoke after a poorly extinguished fire during a scout camp in Maisod.
In the Vosges where 15 fire starts were recorded on Saturday, 50 hectares of forest burned at Ménil. There too, the fire is considered «fixed» on Sunday afternoon, 200 firefighters nevertheless remaining mobilized on the ground.
On Saturday, Emmanuel Macron spoke with the president of the Jura Departmental Council, Clément Pernot, the local firefighters manager, the prefect and the deputy Danielle Brulebois (LREM), after the resumption of the fires.
The Head of State plans to bring together all the actors from the departments concerned, once the fires have been extinguished, in order to reflect on the «model of prevention and fight against fires» in France, added Sunday the Elysée confirming a information from the JDD.