Herault: A former volunteer firefighter imprisoned for arson

Bézier’s attorney general, Raphael Baland, announced Saturday, August 6, that a former volunteer firefighter, suspected of causing two fires at the beginning of August in Herault, was placed under remand Thursday.

The 33-year-old will appear on September 28 in the Beziers Assize Court over these two fires. The public prosecutor said he faces up to ten years in prison.

On August 2, around 7 p.m., Herault’s Fire and Rescue Services responded to a plant fire in the Beznas Nature and Agricultural Area. The fire, which was extinguished within two hours, extended over an area of ​​more than 500 meters² without causing damage to homes.

Then the gendarmes in Biznas were alerted to the presence of a suspicious person at the scene who was also seen in the afternoon near the start of the shooting, and was soon restrained by the firefighters.

He was previously convicted of violence

Arrested on the day of the events when he was an alcoholic, he ended up admitting, upon awakening, that he had caused the evening fire. On the other hand, the prosecution denied any responsibility for the outbreak of the first fire and explained his gesture with his alcoholism, the prosecution said.

In front of the gendarmes, he announced that he lives in Villeurbanne (Rhône), having been a volunteer firefighter in the Ardèche between 2008 and 2011, and has come to Herault with his companion to visit her family. The man, who had already been convicted of acts of violence by his wife, was referred on August 4 to the public prosecutor’s office in Béziers.

At the end of July, already in Herault, a forester, also a volunteer firefighter, admitted in police custody that he had caused several fires, explaining his actions because of the adrenaline rush they caused and the need to “Socially Known”.

with More than 47,000 hectares have been burned since the beginning of the yearFrance surpassed the record for areas burned in July, the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which has been keeping comparable statistics since 2006, said Friday.