?Mortal Danger”: Interview with French Firefighter and Trade Unionist Sébastien Delavoux

This is not a sudden or unforeseen phenomenon; scientists have been warning us for decades. As of August 22nd, 160,000 hectares have burned, 450 houses have been destroyed, 4 firefighters have died in the line of duty, and firefighters have lost 30 vehicles destroyed by fire or accident. At the height of the fires in late July, 72 fire brigades (more than 7,200 personnel) were deployed, which is unprecedented, as the target of 51 reinforcement brigades in 2022 seemed a distant prospect. Even so, this was insufficient, as urban vehicles were ill-suited to fighting forest fires in the middle of the forest!