The 33 -year -old man is suspected of having lit two fires in early August in Hérault, one of them had traveled more than 500 m2. Arrested, he had explained his gesture by his strong alcoholism.
Le Monde with AFP
A former volunteer firefighter, suspected of being the author of two fires on in early August in Hérault, was placed in pre -trial detention on Thursday, announced the public prosecutor of Béziers, Raphaël Balland, Saturday August 6.
The 33 -year -old man will appear on September 28 before the Béziers criminal court for these two fires. He incur up to ten years’ imprisonment, said the prosecutor.
On August 2, around 7 p.m., the Hérault fire and rescue services intervened on a fire of vegetation in the natural and agricultural area of Pézenas. The fire, turned off in two hours, had spread over 500 m 2
é> without causing damage to the dwellings.
The gendarmes of Pézenas had then been alerted to the presence on the scene of an individual with suspicious behavior who had also been seen in the afternoon near a first start of fire, quickly circumscribed by the firefighters.
already sentenced for violence
Arrested on the day of the facts when he was alcoholic, he had finally recognized, after his sobering up, being the author of the fire of the evening. On the other hand, he disputed any responsibility in the first departure of fire and had explained his gesture by his alcoholism, said the prosecution.
Before the gendarmes, he declared to live in Villeurbanne (Rhône), having been a volunteer firefighter in Ardèche between 2008 and 2011 and having come to Hérault with his partner to visit the family of the latter. The man, already sentenced for acts of violence by spouse, was referred on August 4 to the Béziers prosecutor’s office.
At the end of July, already in Hérault, a festival sapper, also a volunteer firefighter, had recognized in police custody being the author of several fires explaining his actions by the adrenaline push that they provoked and a need for “social recognition”.
With more than 47,000 hectares burned since the beginning of the year, France has exceeded in July a record of burned areas, the European Forest Fire Fires system said on Friday (effis ), which has been comparable statistics since 2006.