Fire

One of the trees affected by the wildfire last Thursday in the garrigue near our village. The area of land left blackened and ash covered looks shocking and it did reach dangerously near to some occupied houses. Fortunately, most of the buildings, like the one you can see between the branches in the top left corner of this shot, are unoccupied mazets and ruined agricultural shelters. Vines are hardly ever effected - the leaves are too damp and the wood (as LoJ knows from using it on the barbecue) is very dense and slow burning.

Terrible though the aftermath looks, like a battlefield, fire is a natural part of the Mediterranean cycle, clearing ground for new growth. People here say that land cleared by fire one summer is the best place to look for wild asparagus the next spring. Obviously, if fire gets out of hand near to human habitation it's very frightening and there was a huge force of fire fighters and other emergency services fighting this blaze the other day.

It was very strange being in a familiar landscape now completely changed, but I know how quickly the shrubby vegetation will grow back, even if the trees may not. I've put some more photos here if you're interested.