Among the approximately 45,000 people threatened by the flames who quickly left the Cap-Ferret peninsula or were evacuated, there was the presenter Julien Courbet. But also Sophie Davant with her companion as famous as her, the journalist William Leymergie. The two hesitated on Thursday, then finally gave up on leaving. But they were woken up in the middle of the night and had to rush out.
Sophie Davant gave her testimony this Friday to “Parisien”. She was still moved, because with Gironde, it is a region that is very dear to her which is hit by the gigantic fires. “I spent my childhood in Arcachon. I am a child of the country, I like to come back regularly,” she comments. And he blurted out: “My whole childhood is going up in smoke. It pains me.”
The host explains that, Thursday evening, “the sky was all gray in Cap-Ferret. We no longer saw the sun.” But the fire still seemed far away, she said. After assessing the situation with William Leymergie, they believed they could stay.
But everything changed a few hours later. “We evacuated with William. We had to evacuate at 4:30 last night. We received an order from the prefecture asking all residents of the peninsula to leave it. So we left. It took us 2 hours 45 minutes to drive ten kilometers because all the people received the same order at the same time,” she explains to “Parisien”.
53 houses burned
The Frenchwoman says that during this evacuation, there were firefighters everywhere along the road: “We are crossing a really gray area, with unbreathable smoke. The front is not far away.
Sophie Davant and William Leymergie are now in Arcachon. “We see the smoke covering the entire Cap-Ferret peninsula,” she notes.
The fire raging north of the Arcachon basin has already “destroyed” more than 12,500 hectares of forest and required the evacuation of 44,000 people in two days, the Gironde prefecture announced Friday afternoon, reports AFP.
“The weather conditions remain unfavorable with wind gusts expected up to 80 km/h and dry storms which could break out locally,” underlines the prefecture in its latest situation update.
Since the start of the disaster, 53 houses and a campsite have burned “but the relentless action of the firefighters made it possible to save 2,000 houses last night”, indicate the authorities.
“The mobilization of emergency forces continues with 1,000 firefighters engaged and 260 land resources,” adds the prefecture. They are supported in the air by 4 Canadair, 2 Dash, 3 Air Tractor and 2 water bomber helicopters.
