Firefighters: In the Heart of Danger

After a hot, dry spring, the woodland around Marseille is ready to go up in flames. The firefighters need to show what they're made of. To protect the Mediterranean forest requires military technology, operational tactics, social networks and ancestral knowledge. But suspicious fires spreading into urban areas will take them to breaking point.

Firefighters have succeeded in putting in place a system to keep fires under control. Fire engines are placed at strategic points and teams of firefighters are ready for action. For ten years, there are have been few fires, but this year, they're back with a vengeance. Three months before the summer season, the team goes through intensive training sessions on land, in the sea, and in the skies.

Summer has arrived sooner than normal in the Bouches du Rhone, with temperatures well over 85 degrees. The forests and woodlands are already suffering from drought. The spring was hot and dry and there hasn't been a drop of rain for over a month. A pyromaniac is on the loose and the area has already experienced major blazes. From the start, it looks like this fire season is going to be tough.

1,600 acres of woodland have already burned in June and July and the Bouches du Rhone firefighters are exhausted. But training continues nonetheless: driving fire engines in hazardous conditions, helicopter rescues, and aerial identification using drones. They need to be ready for August, the busiest month for forest fires. On top of all that, a pyromaniac is still suspected to be in the area.

Halfway through a hot, dry summer, the slightest spark sets off fires. The teams have been called out continuously and have worked day and night for weeks. Using high-tech gadgets, tactical firefighting operations and a good dose of sweat and tears, the teams are ready for anything. But when fires are deliberately set in the area, houses are destroyed and firefighters are badly injured.

The Bouches du Rhone department has just been through the worst fire season in a decade. More than 8,000 acres of land have burned. After three months of constant battle, the firemen are exhausted and everyone is praying for rain. But at the beginning of September, the weather forecasts are predicting more wind. The fire season is far from over.