Issued on: 20/07/2022 – 13:48Altered: 20/07/2022 – 13:51
As a heat wave scorches Western Europe, some 38,500 people have been evacuated because of the wildfires in France’s southwestern Gironde. No deaths were reported on Wednesday, but holidaymakers at campsites near the Dune du Pilat – Europe’s highest sand dune, nestled in a forest on the Atlantic coast – let their belongings go up in smoke. FRANCE 24 reports.
Where the caravans of holidaymakers used to be, piles of twisted metal still smoked. A few tents had somehow escaped the flames and were left standing in a landscape of charred bicycles and barbecues. This was the scene on Tuesday at a campsite near the Dune du Pilat, the day after it was destroyed along with five other campsites in the Gironde.
‘Come on, let’s move on! Utilities!” exclaimed local fire chief Mathieu Jomain, as the wind swirled on top of this 100m high sand dune with breathtaking views of forested hills. Smoke continued to rise east as helicopters circled in the sky.
Some tents at camping Flots Bleus have miraculously escaped the flames. © Mehdi Chebil, France 24
“The pines continue to burn from within, even if you can’t see the flames,” Jomain said. “My colleagues will have to extinguish several areas with water to prevent the fires from starting again.”
Unfortunately, it is already too late for the holidaymakers staying at the Dune du Pilat campsite, who have lost the belongings left behind.
Ruth Kreide from Rheinbach near Bonn in Germany was one such holidaymaker. Like many Northern Europeans, the 48-year-old had fallen in love with the Gironde. She has spent the past three summers here with her husband and two children. The family had to be evacuated from camping Panorama on the night of June 12-13.
Charred gas cylinders on a ruined campsite at the foot of the Dune du Pyla. Bus explosions could be heard for miles around. © Mehdi Chebil, France 24
“We were awakened by the sound of people leaving around 4:15 am,” Kreide said. “Then we realized the evacuation had started two hours earlier – but no one had come to tell us because we were staying at the back of the campsite.”
The site staff had told them the day before that there were no imminent evacuation plans.
“We only had time to throw a few things in the car and leave as quickly as possible – so we left the caravan, the tents, the bicycles, our personal belongings,” said Ruth’s husband Christian Kreide. “But in the end we lost everything.”
A few days before their evacuation, Ruth Kreide (left) is with her husband Christian and two children at camping Panorama. © Kreide . Family
The Kreides stayed in the area for a few days, hoping to regain their possessions. A convoy was organized on Sunday to allow holidaymakers to return to the site to collect their belongings, but sudden changes in the wind direction forced the police to turn the convoy back.
The next day, Ruth and her husband watched the Panorama campground go up in flames via a satellite image app on their phones that they refresh every 90 minutes.
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The Kreides were all the more shocked as this is the second time in two years that they have been hit hard by extreme weather.
“Last year we were on holiday in the Panorama when we found out that our house in Rheinbach had been hit by the flooding,” Kreide recalls. “We had to cut our vacation short and go back to Germany.”
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“The water has caused a lot of damage to the basement; the repairs are still ongoing,” Kreide continues. “This was actually on July 13, 2021 – so a year to the day before we went through the evacuation of the Panorama campsite. I remember reassuring ourselves then by remembering that all of our important stuff was with us on vacation in the trailer,” she said with tears in her eyes.
The family went back to Rheinbach on Tuesday, not knowing when they will return to the Gironde. They want to go back, but on the other hand, they don’t want to experience the destruction of the natural environment.
“I can’t wait to see what we get next year,” said Christian Kreide before getting into the car. “Maybe an earthquake?”
The Kreides are preparing to return to Germany on July 19, 2022. Their trunk is full of new stuff they had to buy after the wildfires destroyed their belongings. © Mehdi Chebil, France 24
This article has been adapted from the original in French.