In the Var, the painstaking work of ONF agents trying to extinguish the nascent fires

Deer, turtles, bats, and rare orchids... the iconic biodiversity of the Esterel fell prey to flames this weekend. On the evening of Thursday, July 17, a double fire broke out along the A8 motorway in the town of Fréjus, engulfing the volcanic massif and its exceptional vegetation.

Arriving on the scene within minutes, a team from the National Forestry Office (ONF) could only observe the speed with which the fire was climbing the hillside, on which six helicopters and dozens of fire trucks quickly took up position. "Not a fire for us, it started much too quickly," observed Alain Monavon, head of forest fire protection at the ONF for the Alpes-Maritimes and Var regions, on Thursday evening. As every day since June 30, 48 of his men, trained and equipped to extinguish emerging fires, are traveling in teams of two through the department's mountain ranges.

Arriving at the Pradinaux base, a workshop in the middle of the woods, well before it was time to start his day, Michel Roux, 65, a retired firefighter who works as a seasonal worker for the ONF during the summer, began by polishing his boots. A common concern for appearance among these foresters on public service missions. Wearing polo shirts emblazoned with a large "Forest Fire Protection" logo, and khaki pants, the men and women of the ONF checked that their vehicle's water tank was full and that they had everything they needed, before the chief's morning briefing. The latter congratulated them for extinguishing a fire the day before yesterday and their early intervention on another the day before.

You have 79.58% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.