HERAULT FIRE. The volunteer firefighter arrested in the investigation into the origin of the fires in Hérault admitted to having started several fires. He was indicted on July 29 while the prosecution must open a judicial investigation.
[Mis à jour le 29 juillet 2022 à 8h20] After 48 hours in police custody, the volunteer firefighter admitted to being responsible for several fires that caused the fires in the Hérault on July 26. The 37-year-old man was indicted and placed in pre-trial detention, he must be presented to an examining magistrate this Friday, July 29, announced yesterday the public prosecutor of Montpellier, Fabrice Belargent. The arsonist admitted to having started several fires in the department in the past three years, including eight since May 2022. If he is the author of the four fires started this week near the town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière, he is apparently not involved in those of Gignac according to information reported by BFM TV.
After his confession, the respondent was suspended as a precaution by the firefighters of Hérault, the SDIS 34 having dissociated itself from the volunteer firefighter. The man has been working for more than twenty years as a forester, a type of firefighter in charge of preventing and reducing forest fires. He is also an elected member of the municipal council of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière. The mayor of the town, Bernard Jahnich, confided in an interview for Free lunch, Thursday, July 28, that he was “relieved” of this arrest. According to him, the author of the fires is someone “discreet” and who “was not suspect”. The volunteer firefighter had managed to hide his pyromania which he justifies by the desire to extract himself from an “oppressive family environment” but above all by the “excitement that the interventions caused in him” and a need for “social recognition” . “He is a volunteer firefighter who betrayed his corporation,” added Mayor Bernard Jahnich while congratulating the department’s 3,500 firefighters for their work.
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 prevent 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 had been able to return to their home during the night.
What is the origin of the fire in the Hérault?
The criminal trail was immediately considered in this fire, while an investigation was opened for “arson”, before leading to the arrest of the suspect, Wednesday, July 27. The man, a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter, admitted while in police custody on Thursday July 28 that he was responsible for several fire starts in the department. The public prosecutor of Montpellier reports that his car had been seen in Saint-Privat on May 26, 2022, where three fire starts were noted. He also admitted to having started the fires of July 21 and 26, 2022 in Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière.
A forester for twenty years, the suspect was motivated by the “adrenaline” caused by the fires. According to the prosecutor, he would have liked to “extract himself from an oppressive family environment” and is looking for “social recognition”. The prosecution requested his placement in pre-trial detention and the opening of a judicial investigation for “destruction of forests, moors, maquis or plantations of others occurred in conditions likely to expose people to bodily harm”. These facts can be punished by 15 years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.
Who is the arsonist firefighter responsible for the fires in the Hérault?
His name has not been communicated but it is indeed a volunteer firefighter from SDIS 34 who lit several fires in the Hérault on July 26, 2022. The man is also responsible for older fires dating back for some to 2019. The 37-year-old arsonist lives in the town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière and “knew the terrain well” according to the mayor for having worked for twenty years as a volunteer firefighter, in particular as a forester. i.e. forest fire specialist. He was also an elected member of the city council.
The arsonist firefighter spoke passionately about his job and posted photos of fires in which he intervened on his networks. BFM TV reports that during an interview given to the Toulouse newspaper in 2021, the man said: “When we are called to a fire, there is fear, of course, but we are above all guided by adrenaline and the desire to save our nature” .