The Community of Communes of the Pyrenees Audoises and Limouxin has set up, through its environment department, a cycle of conferences dedicated to the culture of risk.
Meetings which aim to raise awareness among the general public of the knowledge of hazards and risks, their evolution as well as the good practices to implement to prevent their occurrence. They also make it possible to address the behaviors to adopt during and after an event in order to strengthen the resilience of territories and populations.
Fire risk
The first part of this cycle, organized by the Forest Charter of the Haute Vallée de l’Aude, was devoted to fire risk. The conference began with an introduction to the concept of risk presented by Éric Sidorski, head of the Risks, road safety and construction department at the DDTM of Aude.
This first meeting was dedicated to the culture of risk applied to forest fires. “Better understand the risks and reduce the territory’s vulnerability to hazards”, constituted the common thread of this meeting. As a preamble, Pierre Durand, president of the Community of Communes of Limouxin, recalled the importance of developing a real culture of risk. He insisted on the need to better understand natural phenomena to better protect ourselves from them, in a context where forest fires are becoming more intense under the effect of climate change and the evolution of land uses.
On the climatic aspect, Stéphane Thomas described more frequent episodes of drought and weakened vegetation, all factors which increase the risk of fire. He recalled that, despite these developments, the Haute Vallée de l’Aude still has significant room for action in terms of prevention and adaptation.
For his part, Jean-Paul Baylac underlined that several factors aggravate the risk and increase the vulnerability of the territory: the abandonment of agriculture, the extension of wastelands and the evolution of urbanization. These dynamics favor the continuity of plant fuels and facilitate the spread of fires. He called for remaining attentive to “weak signals” already perceptible locally.
Prevention occupied a central place in the discussions. The interventions of Stéphane Libes and Adrien Séverac recalled the regulatory framework of Legal Clearing Obligations (OLD).
Organize spaces
These measures constitute an essential lever for reducing the vulnerability of homes and natural spaces by reducing the intensity of fires and facilitating emergency intervention. Clearing brush does not consist of removing vegetation, but of organizing spaces in order to limit the spread of fire.
The speakers also emphasized the danger of firebrands, these incandescent particles carried by the wind, likely to cause new fires to start from a distance. The maintenance of the surroundings of homes and appropriate management of private and public spaces were presented as essential prevention actions.
Several participants also highlighted the need to better disseminate information relating to risks to the general public. The speakers recalled that numerous data exist but remain insufficiently known, thus limiting the collective capacity to reduce the vulnerability of the territory.
This first conference provided a better understanding of the mechanisms of fire risk and reminded us that its prevention is based on collective mobilization involving residents, elected officials, state services, foresters and farmers.
It marks the launch of a cycle of meetings intended to strengthen the culture of risk and to support the adaptation of the territory in the face of hazards expected to intensify in the years to come.
