The sun is barely rising above Digne-les-Bains. The biting cold of the dawn envelops the Louis-Guieu fire and rescue center, one of the main barracks of the departmental fire and rescue service in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Under the pale neon lights of the garage, the red trucks dozing. A smell of oil, leather and coffee floats in the air.
Inside the building, the atmosphere is studious, almost military. Like every morning, the immutable ritual of the verification of the equipment is carried out. Each firefighter has its role. The hands pass on the pipes, the spears, the ARI (insulating respiratory apparatus) and the stretchers with formidable precision. Nothing is left to chance. Each vehicle is scrupulously inspected.
Because when the alert sounds, every second counts. Lieutenant Éric, assistant to the center chief relates: “We make more than 70% help to the person. Then comes everything that is fire, whether urban or natural spaces, traffic accidents and various operations such as elevator problems and floods. The Dignois intervention sector is quite important. We also defend the municipalities of Draix, Aiglun, Champtercier…“.
Situation
Suddenly, Chief Warrant Officer Lionel, chief of guard, lets me follow him. In a small dedicated room, the maneuver briefing begins. Placed voice, precise look, sergeant Pierjean relates the various operational instructions to remember for the exercise of the day. The looks are concentrated. Some note, others agree in silence.
Around 10 am, direction Champtercier, for a fire maneuver in an abandoned building. “”We will simulate an apartment fire with victims inside. Objective: recognition, extinction and rescue“. Barely arrived there, Sergeant Pierjean slips me in a low voice:”You will be one of the victims stuck upstairs. Not a word to others. We want to test their responsiveness“.
I nod, a bit nervous. A few minutes later, I was stuck on the first floor with behind me, false smoke. Suddenly the rescue team arrives. Orders are spinning, the pipes are deployed. “”We arrive sir, don’t worry“, I am indicated a few meters below. In an instant, a firefighter joins me and evacuates me thanks to a scale. The scene is simulated, but their gestures are real, precise, reassuring.
At the heart of the emergency
Once the various maneuvers have been carried out, return to the barracks. But while calm seems to have returned, the “beep” breaks the silence and the alert sounds. This time, it’s no longer an exercise.
In the city center of Digne-les-Bains, a man who was doing work in the basement of his accommodation has not been raised for several hours and his wife-unable to move-is worried about a potential loss of knowledge of her husband. Everything accelerates. The faces change, the gestures are faster. Alongside Lieutenant Éric, we follow the victim rescue vehicle (VSAV). The beacon tears the afternoon light.
Fortunately, once there, the firefighters – who have arrived in the home – realize that man is fine and would only – only – alcoolized. Taking the constants is carried out, while others reassure and seek to understand what happened. I am discreet, witness to a millimeter ballet where each gesture counts.
End of intervention. More fear than harm, but once again, everyone watched over the grain, playing a crucial role in the intervention. Because when the emergency strikes, they become benchmarks, pillars. And they do it in the shadow every day with a sense of duty that forces respect and a main mission in mind: “Save lives“.
