French firefighters tackle escalating forest fires in Bouches-du-Rhône and Hérault

Martine Vassal, president of the Bouches-du-Rhône departmental council, spent a day with the SDIS 13 fire service to review its risk‑analysis plan and the deployment of new artificial‑intelligence tools for early fire detection. She visited the department’s operational centre, the forest‑fire watch post on the Côte Bleue and inspected specialised vehicles such as forest‑fire tankers and protected VLTTs.

In the neighbouring Hérault department, SDIS 34 director Eric Florès thanked more than 200 firefighters and dozens of partner organisations for confronting an unusually violent start to the forest‑fire season. He noted deployments of crews and equipment to fires across France, including over 1,000 ha in Fontainebleau and 5,000 ha in the Ille‑sur‑Têt area, and the support of Greek volunteer units. Aerial assets from the Béziers‑Cap d’Agde airport and civil‑security aircraft have been used to contain the flames.