Police vehicles parked in front of the Parliament of Brittany, where the Rennes Court of Appeal is located. – C. Allain / APEI / 20 Minutes
More fear than harm. In Rennes, the Parliament of Brittany was evacuated for an hour this Wednesday afternoon for the start of a fire. Shortly after 2 p.m., firefighters were called after the detection of a strong smell of burning and smoke in the basement of the historic building. The start of the fire was caused by “a heating circulation pump whose condenser had burned out,” the first presidency of the Rennes court of appeal said on his Twitter account.
In the early afternoon, evacuation of the #ParliamentofBritain following the detection of a strong smell of burning and smoke in the basement of the building. The immediate deactivation of 1 heating circulation pump after the condenser had burned out put an end to the incident.
🚒🚒🚒– PP Court Appeal RENNES (@ppcaRennes) May 5, 2021
The security services quickly intervened to deactivate the pump and extinguish the fire before the firefighters arrived. The latter, who came in large numbers with no less than 37 firefighters from the Saint-Georges and Beauregard barracks mobilized, then proceeded to ventilate the premises. After the doubt was cleared, all the staff were able to return to Parliament at around 3 p.m. and the interrupted correctional hearing was able to resume.
Located in the historic center of Rennes, the Parliament of Brittany has been under reinforced surveillance since the fire which devastated it on the night of February 4 to 5, 1994.