By air, land, French police track forest fire-starters

Authorities on high alert for arsonists in La Gironde department,

On the ground, two officers from a special mobile brigade of France’s paramilitary gendarmerie speed a long a forest track. Above them, a helicopter scans the landscape to warn them of any fires or anyone who might be looking to start one.

These are the members of a newly created police team who have just started patrolling in southwest France to seek out and arrest the fire-starters devastating the region’s forests.

In the last week, no less than 20 fires have broken out in the forest bordering the seaside resort of Soulac-sur-Mer in the La Gironde department of southwest France, says the local gendarmerie. While some have burned for just a 100 square metres, the largest devoured 30 hectares of forest.

To stop the devastation, local officials have sent in the new unit, the Forest Vigilance Platoon (PVF) made up of 15 reservist gendarmes, a senior police officer and two motorcyclists from the mobile brigade, backed up by the helicopter.

Spread across three zones, the PVF patrol the forest on motorbikes, all-terrain bicycles or in cars, where possible, on the hunt for fire-starters. Set up just two weeks ago they started patrolling on Thursday last week.

The idea is that the PVF will free up firefighters who have been stretched thin battling blazes that since Tuesday have burned up 7,400 hectares of pine forests.

“After the major fires in July, we observed a rise in the number of arson cases,” said Martin Guespereau, deputy prefect for defence and security in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

According to France’s National Forests Office (ONF) nine out of 10 fires were started by people — and three out of 10 were started deliberately.

Red-and-white signs at the edge of the Soulac-sur-Mer forest inform walkers that due to the “very severe” risk of fire, the forest is off-limits to the public. A few cyclists who were out on the trails on Saturday, were quickly intercepted by the PVF.

“As soon as we come across someone, we get their identity,” said one member of the team, Bruno Kechtoff. “If we come across the same person several times, then that becomes suspicious.”

A message comes over the radio: two outbreaks of fire barely 500 metres apart, near Bazas, south of Bordeaux. “We have been called here urgently but we can move if other areas are concerned,” said Constable Jeremy Hernandez.