Fire in Plombières-lès-Dijon: the fire fixed after devastating 12 hectares

The fire which has been raging since Tuesday, September 29 in Plombières-lès-Dijon (Côte d'Or) was fixed early this Wednesday morning but the firefighters will continue to put out the flames all day. 12 hectares were burned.

After several hours of fighting the flames, firefighters managed to contain the fire in Plombières-lès-Dijon (Côte-d'Or) before dawn this Wednesday, September 30. In short: the fire is no longer progressing but it is not yet extinguished. “There are still hot spots and fires that persist in the area that burned,” indicates Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier Roy, communications officer for the Côte-d’Or fire department.

“The action of the firefighters combined with the fact that there was no longer any wind were two determining elements,” underlines Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier Roy. “The wind changed and decreased in intensity last night, this slowed the progression of the fire,” explains the SDIS 21 communications officer.

Around thirty firefighters still mobilized this Wednesday

Around thirty firefighters from the department were still on site this Wednesday morning compared to 120 firefighters at the height of the fire. They had to stay on site all day to treat remaining hot spots. An overview of the area by a drone equipped with a thermal camera is also planned in order to identify the places most at risk. From an operational point of view, 5 tank trucks are mobilized but also logistical resources and command resources.

The fire broke out on Tuesday September 29 around 4:30 p.m. Nearly 12 hectares went up in smoke in the area of ​​rue de Bonvaux and chemin de la Pérouse. “It is very dense vegetation, mainly wasteland and fir trees,” explains Lieutenant-Colonel Olivier Roy. The fire broke out on Tuesday September 29 around 4:30 p.m. in the lower part of Plombières-lès-Dijon and then spread towards the Perouse plateau.

Two firefighters injured in intervention

Two firefighters were injured during intervention, indicates the Côte-d'Or prefecture. Due to the proximity of the railway, train traffic on the Dijon-Paris line was temporarily interrupted before gradually resuming in the evening this Tuesday

“We are all relieved that the fire is fixed,” says Elodie Feurtet, manager of the Éco-domaine de la Pérouse, a farm growing aromatic and medicinal plants located in the area. “The flames stopped 250 meters from the farm, it was quite scary,” says the farm manager.

The plume of smoke was impressive, the pines were burning very quickly. Around midnight, we noticed that there was less smoke and reddish glow, we understood that it was on the right track.

Elodie Feurtet

manager of the Éco-domaine de la Pérouse in Plombières-lès-Dijon

“For 5 years, there have been fires almost every year in this area,” sighs the resident and farmer. For her, the possibility of an arson attack must be studied by the authorities: "the typology is the same, each time, it occurs on steep terrain with dry vegetation."