“A long-term operation which should certainly last until next weekend”. Commander Guy of the marine firefighters of the city of Marseilles did not hide the immensity of the task awaiting him and his men when taking stock of the search and rescue operations carried out in the rubble of the collapsed buildings at 17 rue de Tivoli, in Marseille. A building blown up by an “explosion” with a “still undetermined” cause, said Dominique Laurens, the public prosecutor.
Nine people “do not respond to calls” and are missing, said the authorities, while the hundred firefighters engaged were still facing “a smoldering fire under the rubble”, said the commander. “We are confronted with a devious fire, which decreases, then increases again, and the existence of dwellings in a state which does not allow us to guarantee 100% safety”, continued Admiral Lionel. In this race against time, the firefighters therefore play a game of precision to control the fire: controlling its intensity to allow the men and dogs of the canine teams to engage in the field, without however using huge amounts of water or chemicals that could “drown” any survivors.
Carefully lift the rubble
However, “there is hope, we are in action and as long as there is hope, relief operations will continue,” said the admiral. Relief operations which “will take several days” and will already continue all night, “without lowering the device”.
For the time being, and more than 20 hours after the disaster, the rescuers had not yet “penetrated” the rubble. A crane was installed at the end of the morning to begin evacuating the rubble. “Very meticulous work, because first you have to make sure that there is no one inside. We lift a bundle of rubble, we check that there is no one. And then we start again, ”summarizes Commander Guy. Clearing work carried out “alternately” with the sending of men to the field “according to certain periods. We judge the times when we can engage them, ”explains the admiral.
In this delicate field work, the rescuers are assisted by “several drones to have a precise vision” of the disaster. The images are carefully dissected so that the firefighters assess how they can “tackle” the rubble. Search robots are also ready to be deployed, but the firefighters have not yet had use of them. Unlike the four mobilized dogs which, when the fire loses intensity, can come into action. “The dogs are raking the area,” confirmed Commander Guy, although they had, at the time the lines were written, not yet “marked” with victims.
Control the intensity of the fire
In this race against time, however, every moment brings the firefighters closer to the moment when they could get out of the rubble of possible miracles. “We are gradually moving towards better control of the terrain and therefore the possibility of finding victims under the rubble”, wanted to positively the admiral. Among the nine litters sought, “these are people of a certain age and a young couple in their thirties. According to the information provided, there are no children or minors,” said the prosecutor.
Thirty-three buildings in the extended perimeter set up by the firefighters were evacuated. “The buildings in the neighborhood were in fairly good condition, but they suffered,” commented Commander Guy. Nearly 200 people were thus dislodged. Three-quarters were accommodated with relatives while 50 were sheltered in hotels in the city. Accompanied by firefighters or police, they could drop by their homes to pick up some personal belongings or their pets before leaving, without knowing when they will return.