Significant fire rescue resources are currently deployed in Hitte, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where a fire destroyed a barn and threatens a home.
Significant fire rescue efforts are currently underway in the town of Hitte, in the Hautes-Pyrénées, where a fire devastated the outbuildings of a residential house.
Sophie Loncan
In the morning, the Sdis 65 firefighters were urgently called to rue des Pyrénées where a large plume of black smoke was already visible several kilometers around. When firefighters arrived on site, a barn which contained hay was completely engulfed in flames. The building, engulfed by heavy flames, did not last long before collapsing.
“Our objective is to preserve the house,” indicates the column leader on site. A major challenge given the virulence of the fire, and the proximity of the burning barn to the farmhouse in which the affected family resides.
Man taken to hospital
Sophie Loncan
“When we arrived on site, we took charge of a man in his fifties, the owner of the premises,” said the firefighters. If the latter had slight injuries, he was transported to Lannemezan hospital.
A gendarmerie investigation has been opened, and the possibility of arson is favored, the police confirm. “Further investigations must be carried out.”
No one else was injured according to the fire column leader, in charge of leading fire rescue operations.
A long-term intervention
From a mobile command post installed a few meters from the fire, the officer coordinates the personnel involved in order to adopt the most suitable strategy to put out the flames. An intervention that promises to be long-term, carried out under a blazing sun. “We are currently having problems supplying ourselves with water and are in the process of remedying this,” he said.
Sophie Loncan
On the other side of the street, a respiratory emergency cell was deployed to facilitate the work of the firefighters, who were forced to go into the fire with their helmets, fire jackets and self-contained breathing apparatus. These specific bottles which allow them to work as close as possible to the fire, but which have an autonomy of 30 minutes. Thus, the firefighters take turns to intervene safely, under the watchful eye of a nurse from SDI 65 mobilized on site. In total, nearly 40 firefighters are present in Hitte after the arrival of new reinforcements.
Firefighters hope to be able to contain the spread of the flames and thus avoid additional damage to the property of the affected family.
