He was the first firefighter from Loir-et-Cher to go to Mayotte (1), he loved outside missions. “I am a candidate for all starts! »laughs Lieutenant Stéphane Auger. As a regular at express mobilizations, he did not delay, this time again.
Just three days after the passage of Cyclone Chido which devastated Mayotte, on December 14, the head of the Salbris center joined the civil security support mission on site. “I was seconded as an officer responsible for cargo logistics. »
“There was nothing left of the vegetation”
Concretely, it takes care of all cargo at Petite-Terre airport, transported by military planes. “I had to take inventory of everything that was sent to us: water networks, food, civil and military equipment but also that for companies like SFR or Orange to repair things. »
Lieutenant Stéphane Auger and his colleagues from the civil security support mission.
© Photo Sdis 78, communications department, l. Michael
Next to “150 tons” are carefully inventoried every day in a file by the lieutenant and his troops during the six daily deliveries. With certain rigor. “We were close to the bottle of water! » All in an exotic climate. “It was during the rainy season under 36°C. We had nice showers for ten minutes! »
Close to “tense” exchanges with Macron
A key position “at the beginning of the supply chain” to help a suffering population on this island “devastated. I stayed at the airport a lot from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. but I was able to take a tour of the island the first day: there was nothing left of the vegetation. For housing, there were only the walls standing”says the man who fought against megafires in Canada in the summer of 2023.
-Lieutenant Stéphane Auger close to the equipment received at Petite-Terre airport in Mayotte.
© Photo Sdis 78, communications department, l. Michael
Despite celebrating far from his family, the firefighter savors this “great experience”from where he returned on January 2. Apart from his main task at the airport, he also remembers this “New Year’s Eve spent with soldiers” and having escorted President Emmanuel Macron during his visit to the island “We were a few meters away in a vehicle, behind, but we saw the very tense exchanges between him and the population! »
From this mission, what remains today are the active WhatsApp groups of firefighters still in Mayotte, the now diligent monitoring of news on the island and the memory of a mission “successful. We all needed each other because we all came for the same cause”.
(1) A firefighter from Averdon left on Saturday January 18 while two firefighters from Onzain and Sougé returned from Mayotte this Monday, January 20.
