The south of France affected by the flames. Since July 12, terrible fires have affected the heart of the Arcachon basin in Gironde, having ravaged 20,600 hectares of forests and land to date. While tens of thousands of vacationers were evacuated to the region, some stars present at the scene testified to the disaster.
Like host Julien Courbet, on vacation this summer near Cap-Ferret, who testified on July 18 on RTL. “We are terrified by what is happening,” he says on the air. “We realize the situation this morning since the wind has changed (…) If you go to Cap-Ferret, you no longer see Arcachon when you usually see it very easily”, assures the producer who was not far from the Dune du Pilat.
Further, the flagship host of the M6 group explained how he became aware of the danger in his neighborhood. “What woke me up this (Monday) morning, I thought it was on fire around my house. There is a smell of smoke that has entered all of Cap-Ferret”, indicated the father of Lola and Gabin Courbet before proceeding with caution. “Today, we will have to be vigilant because with the 40 degrees and the humidity, the slightest cigarette butt… it will ignite on all sides”.
Asked the same day on BFMTV, Julien Courbet confided that the fires made the air heavy and suffocating. “We can no longer see Arcachon and the Dune du Pilat was covered with a gray cloud, as if there was a kind of mist all day. And the heat is stifling”, before adding. “Yesterday, we saw the flames. Today, it is the most absolute haze, with ashes which settle on the bonnets of cars”. A situation that also has repercussions on the health of summer visitors. “We have irritated eyes and throats. But it seems to be a little bit better”.
Former swimming champion Laure Manaudou and singer Jérémy Frérot were not spared by the fires in Gironde. Residents near the Dune du Pilat with their three children, the star couple have lived for several years in a residence located in La Teste-de-Buch. But they had no choice but to evacuate the Arcachon basin to escape the flames.
“Yesterday, from the path leading to my house, I saw the flames of the forest, it was getting bigger and that night, we had to evacuate, there was too much smoke, it was unbearable”, confided the husband of Laure Manaudou in shock with the Parisian, in an interview published on July 19. “It was coming into the house, impossible to fall asleep, we were afraid of getting intoxicated and never waking up”. Faced with the magnitude of the situation, the ex-member of the duo Fréro Delavega took a radical decision. “We didn’t want anyone to come and wake us up at 4 a.m. So we played it safe. Then the mayor then asked the whole area to evacuate”.
Originally from Gironde, Mathieu Valbuena is also closely affected by the disaster affecting his native region. While the former international of the France team is currently playing in Greece, since 2019, at Olympiakos Piraeus, he is also co-owner of Pyla-Camping. A tourist resort which however did not survive the flames.
Joined this Monday, July 18 by our colleagues from Parisian, footballer Mathieu Valbuena did not hide his sadness. “It is a great sadness. I have owned this business since 2013 with a partner. It is located at the foot of the dune between the Yelloh Village Panorama du Pyla and the Flots bleus (establishment made famous thanks to the film Camping, editor’s note)”, he admits. “I find it very difficult to realize that there is nothing left today. I could never have imagined that it would go so far. It is a classified site, which crosses borders with a lot of French people and foreigners who came to camp or simply see the Pilat dune. It hurts…”.
Bruised in the face of this situation, Mathieu Valbuena showed his support for the firefighters who are fighting against the flames. “It hurts the heart and it’s complicated to see the future rosy. The most important thing is to be able to control the flames, that the fire does not cause too much additional damage even if the conditions are not favorable. Few people imagined such a situation…”, before being optimistic. “Time will allow us to rebuild. And we hope that the French will still come in great numbers because we have a very beautiful region”. On his social networks, the footballer (questioned the day before in the 13H of TF1) relayed the appalling images of what remains of his campsite.
