Pyrenees-Orientales death of a woman firefighter – The Point

A volunteer firefighter wife died in the night from Thursday to Friday in a fire, which may be criminal about to be mastered on the hills of Cerberus (Pyrénées-Orientales) that plunge into the Mediterranean. At midday, the fire was more active. It remained more than fumaroles here and there on the hill blackened in the region near the Spanish border.

The volunteer firefighter wife died around 2 am as she struggled against the raging fire fanned by strong gusts, said Captain William Brunet, head of the Crisis of CODIS (operational center for fire and rescue). Patricia Filippi, 50, mother of three children, lived in Le Boulou, near Cerberus. It was integrated into an intervention group facing the fire that suddenly changed direction by folding his flames of fire on the soldiers.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Manuel Valls said his ” sadness (…). It will remain an example for all courage. Support for his family. ” “She was fighting fire at a summit (…) at a time the wind surrounded them and blocked them,” testified on Europe 1 the mayor of Cerberus, Jean-Claude Portella. The victim was a volunteer firefighter for ten years.

roadside glass debris

On the northern flank of the fire, in the acrid smoke odor, the gendarmes of criminal identification were examining the scene. Asked about a possible criminal origin of the fire, a gendarme placed before a fumarole said: “I can not tell you anything, but if it is there, it is that there is something.” Nearby, one of his colleagues was inspecting large glass debris in fumaroles near a parking area.

The mayor of the neighboring commune of Banyuls-sur-Mer Jean-Michel Solé is convinced the voluntary nature of the fire. “I do not see how we could have a fire like that, nine forty-five, roadside,” he said. He became aware of two other fire starts yesterday. The criminal trail “is a hypothesis among others”, has tempered the duty captain of the gendarmerie in Perpignan, Regis Mourot

Colonel firefighters Jean-Pierre Salles-Mazou confirmed on i & gt. TV that the fire had “roadside”, at 21 h 45. “All the flames are extinguished”, but the fire was still under “active surveillance” at midday, he has said.

difficult area of ​​access

The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, expected on site in the early evening, paid tribute to the victim. “Patricia Filippi died in the fire, true to the motto firefighters: Save or perish ,” he said in a statement. He also praised the 194,000 French volunteer firefighters, who provide “nearly two-thirds of the interventions” alongside professionals.

There, some firefighters doused plenty of vines still smoking, while their gear last controlled the fumaroles on the short cuts. Fanned by strong winds and gusts, the fire burned 150 hectares of scrub, scrubland and pine forest, as CODIS. “The many resources deployed on fire (…) allowed it to evolve to a favorable situation,” said the prefect on site, Josiane Knight cited by his chief of staff. Up to 240 firefighters fought against the loss, helped sixty gear, Canadair and Trackers, reinforcements came from Spain and neighboring departments of Aude and Herault. No housing was threatened in this steep area and difficult to access.