The church of Saint-François in Montpellier (Hérault) is engulfed in flames. A major fire broke out on the roof on the morning of Wednesday, December 11, 2024. Nearly 80 firefighters were mobilized to put it out. Around noon, smoke was still escaping from the building, as shown in this video from our colleagues at Free Midday .
A fire occurred during work carried out in the church
The fire broke out during waterproofing work, said the Hérault prefecture in a press release published on X, shortly before 4 p.m. He would have taken while the workers were carrying out welding with a blowtorch, specify our colleagues from Free Midday.
“The fire is no longer progressing”, she specifies. The Sdis 34 firefighters, however, remain mobilized to “control the fire, by extinguishing the hot spots located under the zinc roof”, underlines the prefecture.
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Ten people had to evacuate but the fire caused no injuries. Valuable objects were also saved: the organ, art objects and archives. “The statue of the virgin was extracted and made safe”, declares the prefecture. Made of marble and weighing 500 kg, it will be transported to the Saint-François d'Assise college located near the religious building, specifies Free Midday. A security perimeter has been set up.
