Over 700m2 of terrain burnt in Brevent forest fire

Following our reports yesterday on the fire that broke out around midday just under the Brevent bubble lift in Chamonix, firefighters are reporting this morning that around 700m2 of ground has been burnt in the forest fire.

The fire, which broke out between pylons 10 and 11 near the top of the Planpraz bubble lift which takes you from Chamonix to the base Planpraz, took over three hours to control Over 30 firefighters with several engines and trucks from Chamonix, Sallanches, Cluses and St Gervais were in attendance. Four fire trucks stayed in situ in the forest, having pulled over 600 metres of hose to pump water onto the scorched forest and Pascal from Chamonix Mont Blanc Helicopters did a total of 38 rotations dumping water on the smoke and flames.

There were no injuries and the although the lift's cable heated up, there was only one bubble damaged in the incident. The bubbles were all run in to the lift station and walkers in the Brevent area came back down via La Flegere, on foot, by 4x4 or even by helicopter.

The firefighters stayed on the scene until early evening. It is thought the source of the fire was someone throwing a cigarette end out of the window of one of the bubble cars. D'oh!

Photos courtesy of Mike Duffy