The night was not easy for the 25 firefighters alerted on the night of Monday to Tuesday for a fire in the city center of Montluçon rue de la Gaité. “We arrived on the scene around half past midnight,” says Lieutenant Ludovic Cointrel-Ruaux. On the spot, the firefighters note the damage in progress: “The building, a house of 200 m², was totally ablaze on three levels”.
The fire under control
Quickly, Lieutenant Cointrel-Ruaux’s men intervened and destroyed part of the roof “to prevent the fire from spreading to the unoccupied building next door”. A long-term job that finally paid off. The fire was brought under control around two o’clock in the morning. “Now we have to secure and perfect the extinction of the fire,” explains the firefighters manager.
Present on the spot, the technical services of the city of Montluçon must install a security perimeter to avoid any danger and allow the causes of the accident to be investigated.
Part of rue de la Gaité is now closed to traffic
The disused house was sometimes occupied by squatters. Asked during the night about the presence of possible victims, Lieutenant Cointrel-Ruaux explained that on the burned part, he did not know for the moment if there were bodies.
Martial Delecluse
