“My place was there”: a Brest firefighter recounts three weeks of mission in Mayotte

Following the passage of Cyclone Chido on December 5, 2024, under what circumstances did you leave for Mayotte?

Warrant Officer Nicolas Simon, firefighter in Brest: “As a volunteer, by taking three weeks of leave and a seasonal contract, after an appeal made by the General Directorate of Civil Security, to set up a reinforcement system, relying in particular on the Sdis (Departmental Fire Services and relief). As soon as I found out and saw the disaster, I wanted to go there. I think all the firefighters here had the same feeling: when you do this job, it's to help others. There, with a French department totally ravaged by the cyclone… Even if it was during the holidays, my place was there.”

What situation did you discover on site?

“We have experience of storms like Ciaran here, and we know the damage to homes and vegetation. But there, the scale had nothing to do with it: there was an apocalyptic side to the landscape. We arrived fourteen days after Chido passed through, so it was already partly rebuilt in the slums. As it is their only home, they had put up some sheet metal to protect themselves.”

“We were the Advanced Medical Post group. The first mission was to do marauding, go to the bangas, the shanty towns, to provide care to injured people, in Petite Terre and the north of Grande Terre, the part most affected by the cyclone. On site, with the temperatures and hygiene difficulties, a simple wound can quickly take on significant proportions if it is not treated quickly. Even we were forbidden from shaving to avoid any risk of infection! We treated more than 8,000 people in total. The second mission was to protect the schools: we carried out tarpaulins and purged ceilings to be able to reopen the schools as quickly as possible, even if the start of the school year was postponed until January 27. We also had missions to distribute drinking water to the population, and manage freight (tents, food, water, etc.) at the airport, where the Air Force A400Ms landed. A first for me! “.

How did the relationship with the slum dwellers develop?

“We relied on a group of teachers who were already identified on site: they prepared food every day for the banga children. We therefore first focused on these points to provide care and gain the trust of the population, before going to the heart of the bangas. There, there are many undocumented immigrants, for whom the uniform is synonymous with the risk of expulsion. But they quickly identified our uniform, since we were only providing assistance. We see that they are not eating enough, that they do not have enough water. We avoided drinking in front of the population, we never ate in front of them… On the contrary, we gave the collective of teachers the biscuits from our 24-hour rations, so that they could then distribute them to the residents.”

“Yes, we had to remain confined for 48 hours, because of the risk of landslides since there was no longer any vegetation to retain rainwater. But on Sunday, we managed to get a team out in the morning to check the damage, which ultimately was less significant than feared where we were.”

What was your feeling when you left?

“If I had been asked to do three more weeks, I would have happily done them, even if my family would have appreciated it less! In our professions, we are not used to leaving before the crisis situation is resolved: there, given the scale, it is impossible. But there is pride in having done a lot with this detachment: the care, the covering of the buildings, the management of the Dikeledi storm. And we know that we are relieved: the mission continues there.”