The pyromaniac firefighter from Hérault spent his first night in prison, indicted on Thursday July 28 for the destruction of forests. Arrested overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday, he faces 15 years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros. We take stock of what we know.
>> “Normal people with contained violence”, “hyperactive people”… What is the profile of arsonists?
Several starts of fires in the last three years
The 37-year-old man, married, father of 2 children, was arrested on Wednesday July 27 in Hérault. According to the press release from the public prosecutor of Montpellier, he admitted to the investigators having caused several fires to start in recent days, or even in the last three years.
His vehicle had been spotted at the scene of several fire starts on July 21 and 26.The volunteer firefighter explained “to want to provoke the intervention of firefighters in order to get out of an oppressive family environment”to benefit from “social recognition“, but also because of “the adrenaline” caused by these fires.
Volunteer firefighter, forester, elected official and arsonist
There were many suspicions in Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière around the action of an arsonist firefighter with these fire starts, always well calculated, in high winds, on vulnerable sectors. But no one imagined the action of a local child. Moreover, the 37-year-old man in question was fully invested in the life of his commune. A lifelong resident of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière, he has been a volunteer firefighter for 20 years. Former president of the firefighters’ association, he worked as a sapper forester and is also a municipal councilor in his town, in charge of the festivities. He was suspended as a precaution by the firefighters of the Hérault.
In an interview given last year on the website “Le journal toulousain”, the man told how he spent his days clearing brush, pruning the edges of the road to limit the start of fires, pointing the finger at global warming. At the question “What advice do you give to firefighters?”he replied: “It’s a profession of passion. We are driven by adrenaline and the desire to save our nature.”
“We’re all addicted. Some even say we’re crazy sometimes.”
The pyromaniac firefighter of Héraultin an interview with the Journal toulousain
On the spot, shock, dismay and anger
In the Saint-Jean barracks where he worked, the firefighters questioned by France Blue Herault say they are in shock and explain feeling a sense of “treason“. A psychological cell was set up there. The hierarchy affirms that the suspect did not show any sign of psychiatric disorder.
The mayor of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière, Bernard Jannich, himself a former professional firefighter from Sdis, is “very angry and appalled”he said at the microphone of France Bleu Hérault. “We did not suspect this boy at all. An arsonist is an isolated boy who has urges and who is sick.” He also warns against possible amalgams: “I don’t mind being classified as a firefighter, forester, elected official, that’s normal. But there are 3,500 firefighters in Hérault and there is one case.” Note that this man is not implicated in the major fire which spread in the Gignac sector on July 26 and which was “fixed” the next day.