HERAULT FIRE. The suspect placed in police custody yesterday, a volunteer firefighter, admitted this Thursday, July 28, 2022 to be responsible for several fire starts. The Hérault fires are no longer progressing and are fixed.
[Mis à jour le 28 juillet à 16h54] It is indeed a firefighter who is at the origin of the fires in the Hérault. The suspect arrested yesterday admitted to being responsible for the fire starts this Thursday afternoon, July 28, announced the public prosecutor of Montpellier, Fabrice Bélargent. He explained that he was at the origin of several fires which have hit the department since May: the fires of May 22, 2022 in the town of Saint Privat, of July 21 on a dirt road leading to Saint Jean de la Blaquière and of the 4 departures of fire from the night of July 26 to 27 in the town of Saint Jean de la Blaquière. All were thrown with a lighter.
The man, a volunteer firefighter belonging to the departmental fire and rescue service (SDIS), has the profile of an arsonist firefighter and told investigators that he had “acted with the aim of causing the firefighters to intervene in order to to extract himself from an oppressive family environment” and for the “adrenaline”, “the excitement that the interventions caused in him”. As soon as the suspect was arrested, the SDIS 34 dissociated itself from the volunteer firefighter condemning “with the greatest firmness such unacceptable, intolerable and inadmissible acts”, reports Free lunch. While the investigation into the “voluntary fires” is progressing, the fires of the Hérault have been fixed since Wednesday July 27.
Fire set in Hérault, near Montpellier
This information comes as 650 firefighters managed to fix the fire that has been raging near Montpellier since Tuesday, July 26. The flames no longer progress. A first relief for the firefighters who feared a resumption of the advance of the fire given the wind which was blowing around 50 km / h on Wednesday in the sector. However, the fire is not yet extinguished and could start again at any time, while it has already burned 800 hectares of vegetation across the municipalities of Saint-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve, Gignac and Aumelas, near part of the highway.
In the Hérault, a fire resulting from two fire starts
The fire which affects part of the Hérault is the result of two simultaneous fire starts, Tuesday July 26, 2022. The Hérault firefighters intervened during the morning on two separate fire starts of 1 5 km located in the municipalities of Saint-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve, Gignac and Aumelas, indicated the prefecture of Hérault, before the two fires met. They would both have started between 9:30 a.m. and 9:35 a.m.
Map of the fire in Hérault
The two fires which initially broke out independently are located about thirty kilometers west of Montpellier, south of a portion of the A750 motorway. They are currently rampant on the Aumelas plateau. The prefecture indicates that the fire is fixed, but that the firefighters remain mobilized to avoid any resumption of fire.
As in Gironde or in Brittany, the fire in the Hérault, fortunately, did not cause any human damage. No injuries are to be deplored, only vegetation is burning. More than 1000 hectares have already gone up in smoke. In addition, no damage to the buildings was observed, as indicated by the commander of the relief operations, Colonel Sylvain Besson. 280 inhabitants of Aumelas had been evacuated as a preventive measure on Tuesday during the day. They were able to return to their home during the night.
What is the origin of the fire in the Hérault?
The criminal track is considered in this case. The mayors of the affected municipalities immediately mentioned this track. Grégory Bro, mayor of Saint-Bauzille-de-la-Sylve, told Free lunch that “the investigation will certainly say so, but I think that the departures of fires turn towards a criminal track”, which also indicated the first city councilor of Gignac, Jean-François Soto: “it is sadness and revolt because clearly, it is criminal.”
An investigation for “arson” was quickly opened and led to the arrest of a suspect on Wednesday July 27. “On May 26, 2022, at the start of the evening, three fires were observed in the town of Saint-Privat. On this occasion, a witness communicated information making it possible to identify a vehicle traveling at high speed and all lights extinguished nearby. from the place where the fires had started”, explained the prosecutor. Investigations have established that this same vehicle had been observed near the town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière at the time of the fire. “The owner of the vehicle was taken into custody last night as part of a procedure for deliberate damage by fire and the investigations are currently continuing”, details the prosecutor, Fabrice Bélargent. The day after his arrest, the man, a volunteer firefighter from SDIS 34, admitted to having lit several fires, including those of July 26.