Monday, August 16, 2021, around sixty firefighters from the Alpes-Maritimes were dispatched as reinforcements to the Var in response to a very large forest fire.
Yesterday, a fire broke out around 5 PM at the A57 motorway rest area, in the direction of Toulon – Le Luc, near the town of Gonfaron. According to Var Matin, by 11:30 PM, more than 1,200 hectares had been burned.
In response to this large-scale fire, the firefighters from the Alpes-Maritimes agreed to the request for reinforcements. The operational center of the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS) of the Alpes-Maritimes assembled a reinforcement column with “three intervention groups specialized in forest fires, a command echelon, and another for logistics.” In total, 65 firefighters and 21 vehicles were sent from the Alpes-Maritimes to the Var.
Late last night, the flames continued to spread, bolstered by a powerful mistral. Nearly 600 firefighters are still mobilized to fight this large-scale fire.
