A 12-year-old boy admitted to having lit two fires in Morbihan between August 10 and 17, the Vannes prosecutor’s office announced on Friday evening, confirming information from the regional press.
The mythical forest of Brocéliande in Morbihan was affected by violent fires on the night of August 11 to 12, resulting in particular in the disappearance of the “Giant’s Tomb”, an emblematic place of Arthurian legend. On Friday, a 12-year-old child admitted to being responsible for two voluntary fire starts.
During this period, when a major fire devastated more than 400 hectares of the Brocéliande forest in three days in the department, “five departures of wildfires broke out in the town of Saint-Malo-de-Beignon during the day or in the evening, all extinguished quickly by the inhabitants of the town and having caused only minimal damage, ”specifies the press release from the prosecution.
A fire now fixed
Saint-Malo-de-Beignon, 500 inhabitants, is located about twelve kilometers from Campénéac, the town where the Brocéliande fire broke out on the night of August 11 to 12.
“The investigations have identified a 12-year-old minor, unknown to the gendarmerie and justice services,” the statement continued. “Heard freely about these facts” this Thursday, “he admitted having lit two of these fires, near his home, without being able to explain the reasons for his action”.
“Given his age and the absence of a history, he was given a summons at short notice to carry out a criminal reparation measure before a prosecutor’s delegate, in accordance with the provisions of the code of criminal justice for minors”, indicates the floor.
The forest of Brocéliande, where the firefighters had managed to fix the fire on August 14, is a high place of the Arthurian legend, straddling the east of Morbihan and the south-west of Ille-et-Vilaine.