Illustration of firefighters. – E. Frisullo / 20 Minutes
Firefighters were “taken to task on their arrival” during an intervention to extinguish a fire which ravaged part of a nursery school in a popular district of Lille on Thursday evening, announced the mayor (PS), Martine Aubry, condemning a “voluntary” fire.
Residents called the fire department around 8:15 p.m., claiming to have seen people breaking into Béranger-Hachette school, located in the Faubourg de Béthune district, then having seen smoke emerging from it, according to the emergency services.
The establishment closed for an “indefinite” period
People fired fireworks mortars at firefighters once there, according to the same source. The fire swept through about “a third” of the establishment, which was closed for an “indefinite” period.
“Arson this evening in a school in Lille. I strongly condemn this act which attacks a place so essential for children, a place of education and emancipation, a living symbol of the Republic, ”tweeted Martine Aubry. The firefighters plan to file a complaint.