Since August 2023, at least seven sheds which were used to store crops and agricultural equipment have been destroyed by flames within a 10 kilometer radius around Bacqueville-en-Caux in Seine-Maritime. Repeated fires which worry farmers.
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Even if work has already resumed for Jean-Baptiste and Eline Blondel, breeders in Saint-Mards in Seine-Maritime, the trauma of the fire can be felt in their words.
“Thursday evening, around 9 p.m., as he went to bed, my wife’s son saw an orange glow through a glass door of the house, explains Jean-Baptiste Blondel. As he took a few steps forward, he saw the building where we store the straw on fire. We had been home for barely half an hour. We didn’t see or hear anything suspicious.”
For this couple of cattle and sheep breeders, established since 2017, the entire straw harvest went up in smoke. “Straw serves as bedding for animals but it is also a very important element in their diet, specifies Jean-Baptiste Blondel. The solidarity of the agricultural world will work. I should find some backup solutions.”
The next day, the insurance expert visited the farm. The complaint was filed this Monday, October 14. “At the administrative level, things react quickly. Insurance companies will play their role,” believes Jean-Baptiste Blondel. But when we ask him about his state of mind, he modestly answers: “It’s not easy.”
Between the overload of work caused by this fire, the apprehension of winter and lost food stocks for the livestock, he is concerned. “We are afraid it will start again even if there is nothing left to burn.”
For Eline, his partner, “The images of the fire remain very shocking. When night returns, the light changes, the glow, it’s disturbing. And knowing that someone is lurking….”
The breeder insists: “At the moment it’s just material damage. What I fear a lot is an accident. If a farmer rushes to save equipment that is burning or someone is injured because a prowler is seen”.
What the couple wants today are human resources so that the gendarmerie can monitor and quickly arrest the perpetrator(s) of this fire.
Because the fire which occurred this Thursday, October 10, 2024 is not the first. Since August 2023, at least seven farms have been victims of the same scenario. Everything happened within a radius of barely 10 km around Bacqueville-en-Caux, near Dieppe.
Every time, it’s the same scenario. The events always take place at night. Only agricultural operations are affected. Except for the first fire, the buildings are always located near a road. An investigation was entrusted to the Dieppe gendarmerie. For the moment, the police and the Dieppe public prosecutor’s office in charge of this case have not responded to our request for information.
For the mayors of the municipalities concerned, it is now necessary to manage the stress of the population. “The farmers are exasperated”, tells us Aline Morel, interim mayor of Bacqueville-en-Caux.
Its town of 1,900 inhabitants suffered two fires. The first in October 2023, the second in March 2024. “The flax and hay have been brought in. There, the farmers are preparing to ensile the corn. There is fear, of course. We wonder who will be next. And we see the pain. As elected officials , we are a little helpless.”
In Bacqueville-en-Caux, the fire was filmed by a local resident on the night of March 8 to 9, 2024 and published on social networks.
Same feeling in the neighboring village of Lammerville, 340 inhabitants, which also experienced two identical disasters. “The consequences are multiple,” assures Blandine Das, mayor of Lammerville.
“First the economic consequences for farmers. And then the psychological consequences: stress, fear. In August 2023, the fire broke out near two homes. There are also the consequences on the environment: this summer – there, the roof of the building which burned contained asbestos. The site had to be decontaminated last Thursday, fortunately in our misfortune, no toxic material caught fire.
But the event is traumatic for the farmers and their families, insists the elected official. “There are children in this story. We can’t wait for the author(s) to be found”she concludes.
Faced with the repetition of fires, locally, farmers are organizing. Alexandre Dartyge is based in Criquetot-sur-Longueville. He was not a victim but as local manager of the FNSEA, he was in regular contact with the gendarmerie.
“On their advice, we created groups on our cell phones to be responsive and report to others what might seem suspicious to us.” Be vigilant between neighbors and above all avoid anger from boiling over.
“We must remain calm, observe and report all information to law enforcement.” Alexandre Dartyge also wants his union to ask the prefecture for additional resources for their investigation.
The union leader is also conducting research to group purchase cameras like those used by hunters to see if there is game. “These are mobile devices that take and store photos if there is traffic. Depending on the model, the price varies between 100 and 300 euros,” explains Alexandre Dartyge.
The mayors believe they do not have the means. The main stakeholders are wondering.
“It’s an idea like any other. But it’s not that simple,” says Paul Lemarchand. On September 30, 2023, one of these hangars in Bacqueville-en-Caux went up in smoke during the night. “These cameras must be well placed, they must not burn and, above all, the arsonist must not have his face hidden.”
A year after the incident, the farmer has just rebuilt a new building. “For me, it took additional time and steps. And it’s still not over. In my shed, there were crops and equipment. When the machines are old, it’s more complicated because the insurance applies a coefficient of obsolescence on the amount of reimbursements.”
Paul Lemarchand was also forced to replenish his food stocks by searching from different suppliers for the straw needed for his dairy cows.
Not counting the “surcharge mentale” he mentions. “When it’s criminal, it continues. We say to ourselves that it could start again overnight. Perhaps after the last fire on Thursday, it will take a break of three or four months as has already been the case. case but he will do it again. I would like the police to find him. I could then file a complaint against him for this moral damage. he concludes.
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