1949 Landes forest fire

1949 wildfire in France

A major wildfire occurred from 19 August 1949 to 25 August 1949 in the Landes forest in France. 50,000 hectares (500 km2) of forest land were burnt - and 82 people killed.[1] It was considered the most deadly forest fire in Europe[1] until the 2007 and 2018 wildfires in Greece, which killed 84 and 99 people, respectively. Since both fire events in Greece can be distinguished as a multiple fire event, the Landes fire still ranks as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since record-keeping began.[2] The municipalities of Cestas, Saucats, Marcheprime and Mios in the Gironde department were devastated by the forest fire. The very high dead toll from the fire shocked the country – and marked the starting point for the construction of the “Defending Forest against Wildfire” – “Défense de la forêt contre les incendies” System.[3]

Bibliography and further reading

  • Joan Deville, L'Incendie meurtrier dans la forêt des Landes en août 1949, Les Éd. des Pompiers de France, 15 mai 2009, 160 p. (ISBN 978-2916079202) (in French)

Sources

  • Abstract and short translation of the Article « Incendie de la forêt des Landes de 1949 » in the French Wikipedia

References

  1. ^ a b Christophe Neff (13 July 2009). "The Fatal Forest Fire – remembering the "1949 Mega fire" in the "Forêt des Landes" (South West France)". Blogs le Monde on LeMonde.fr. Archived from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Pyrotragedies – a critical retrospective on the wildfire situation in Europe during July 2018". Blogs le Monde on LeMonde.fr. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  3. ^ "Pyrotragedies – a critical retrospective on the wildfire situation in Europe during July 2018". Blogs le Monde on LeMonde.fr. 7 August 2018. Archived from the original on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2018.

External links

  • Pourquoi les incendies de forêts sont-ils si meurtriers ? Par Robert B Chevrou
  • La sécheresse remarquable de l'année agricole 1948-1949 en France.
  • Les incendies de forêt dans le massif landaisarchived
  • 1949 - l'incendie meurtrier dans la Forêt des Landes (article in the blog Paysages)(in French)
  • The Fatal Forest Fire – remembering the “1949 Mega fire” in the „Forêt des Landes” (South West France) (article in the blog Paysages)
  • Le 19 août 1949 – le drame de la Forêt des Landes (article in the blog Paysages)(in French)


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