Hérault. Firefighter “died in fire” in Gabian: families soon to settle on state compensation

It was ___ ago almost eight years In the burning hill between Gabian and Roquesselsnortheast of Béziers: on August 10, 2016, a firefighter from Sdis 34, Jeremy Beier (24 years old) and three other occupants of a water-carrying truck sent to reinforce Montpellier were trapped by a tongue of fire. The firefighters were burned including Jérémy Beier, horribly, who died a few days later. Two others, aged 22 and 28 at the time and volunteer firefighters, Lucas Canuel, who suffered 40% burns and had to have ten fingers amputated, and Didier Bourdelier, were seriously affected. The third, a survivor, but in a deep state of shock.

The criminal trial long awaited by the families is slow in coming, the order of referral to the Béziers criminal court not yet been rendered by the last investigating judges in charge of the procedure, but this Friday, May 24, 2024, a long hearing took place at the administrative court of Montpellier to determine compensation from the State.

THE Public rapporteur noting two faults by Sdis 34 “for lack of maintenance of the vehicle and errors in the chain of command” and did the accounts: he estimated that €530,000 must be paid by Sdis 34 to Lucas Canuel, €257,000 to Didier Bourdelier, 38% burned, €30,000 to Jérémy Beier’s mother and €25,000 to his brother – volunteer firefighter at the Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréveils barracks -, €30,000 for a member of the family of Didier Bourdelier. At the hearing, Lucas Canuel denounced the refusal of Sdis 34 to grant him functional protection. Totaling €872,000. In administrative jurisdictions, the opinions of the Public Rapporteur are followed by 97%.

“Moral faults”

Documents from the investigation file were submitted by the families of the victims, causing Me Jean-Marc Maillot, their lawyer, to say in particular that “the tanker was not in a condition to be engaged this summer 2016 on this important forest fire: the radio was out of order, as were the door seals and the cabin was not equipped with individual breathing apparatus.” A pleading to establish, according to him, alleged “moral faults of the Sdis de l’Hérault which fall under this administrative jurisdiction, pending the criminal trial”.

“The judicial investigation is not over”

Echoing this, Me Régis Constans, who defends Sdis 34 and the Department of Hérault (President Kléber Mesquida is also president of the board of directors), insisted on this reality: “the judicial investigation is to date still not finished. The decision of the public prosecutor on the referral of this case is not known to date, the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service of Hérault cannot therefore be condemned, nor even designated as responsible, while “no criminal judgment took place”, adding this important point: “As part of the criminal procedure carried out, the Sdis was not indicted, but benefits from the status of assisted witness, which means that to date, he has not been held criminally responsible.”

As a reminder, around ten “fire soldiers”, including Christophe Risdorfer, director of Sdis 34 in 2016 are indicted, without us knowing at present, how many will be referred to the criminal court, with a trial probably in 2025. The numerous successive judges found themselves before a file voluminous, with mainly technical points listed by the experts and counter-experts. In addition to the compensation that the administrative court will pay following this hearing on Friday, the civil parties will claim judicial damages.

Truck left exposed outside

On the state of the tanker truck noted by the families’ lawyer, Me Constans noted at the hearing that, “the production of the technical expertise on the state of the truck, which has also been known for a long time in the criminal procedure and which for the record was carried out two years after the facts, even though the vehicle remained in its exposed state, without judicial sequestration, has no link with the compensation of agents victims of accidents on duty”. The fact that the tanker caught in the violent blaze was not placed under judicial seal complicates the mission of the investigating judges.

“If the recent hearing at the administrative court is very important for the victims of this dramatic accident, it focused only on the victims’ compensation claim. This is an administrative procedure to determine the amounts of compensation linked to the damage suffered, the criminal procedure being still ongoing. The Administrative Court therefore had to rule on the amount of compensation to be awarded to the victims in relation to their injuries and damages following a request for prior compensation filed in 2021. Our lawyer, Maître Constans, argued in his pleading that compensation for victims of an accident while on duty is the right of every firefighter within the framework of no-fault liability and that this has never been contested. The Sdis having recognized responsibility for the accident. The purpose of this appeal before the administrative court was solely to determine the amount of compensation,” reacted the management of Sdis 34 and the president of the Hérault Departmental Council.

The judgment, under advisement, should be rendered next week according to our information, while the parents of the firefighter “died by fire” despair in the face of the abnormally long delay in the legal proceedings. On August 10, families will attend yet another official ceremony organized in front of the flower stele of Jérémy Beier, in the middle of a hill which is becoming green again.

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