DayFR Euro

“It feels good to talk between neighbors”: in Douarnenez, after the Kermabon fire, residents in shock

This Saturday, November 9, 2024, the residents of Tréboul in Douarnenez woke up in shock. One of the apartments in the Kermabon HLM building caught fire and two people lost their lives.

Jean-Claude lives at number 12, in one of the two alleys next to the one where the apartment affected by the fire is located: “I got up this morning at 6 a.m., I had a juice in the kitchen , and outside, the reflections in the cars attracted my curiosity. I opened the patio door to see where the lights were coming from, and I smelled a strong burning smell. I leaned down, and the apartment below (in the next alley, Editor's note) was on fire, it was coming out everywhere (…) we could no longer put one foot on the stairs! » He then leaves his house in a hurry, his first instinct being to dial 18 to call the firefighters. “The police arrived ten minutes after I left. I think they had seen the flames opposite (on the other side of the Rhu, Editor’s note).”

“The police came and banged on the door”

A little further, at number 14, the other neighboring alley, three residents are chatting on their doorstep. Faces marked, tense, Yannis, Marilyn, and Nadège keep the episode in mind. “We were woken up by the gendarmes who came banging on the door a little after 6 a.m.,” says Yannis. He continues: “In a disaster, we got down as best we could. Once outside, we saw the fire in the next alley. The flames were huge, it must have started burning a while ago. We were grouped together, then the firefighters asked us to move away, they feared a possible explosion due to the gas.”

In the morning, once the relief intervention was completed, the evacuated residents, around twenty spread across the three alleys of the subdivision, were able to return to their apartments.

Traumatized children

Marilyn is still in shock. Marked by the image of the gendarmes trying to resuscitate a victim on the ground, she worries about her children: “My five-year-old daughter, this morning, played by saying that there was fire, that it was the chaos outside. She finally fell asleep and we hope she doesn't have nightmares. For the children, it is traumatic to see this, in reality, right outside their home. »

Contact details were given for psychological help, particularly for children, but Marilyn regrets that nothing will be put in place that very day: “It won't be before Tuesday, and we would have liked it to be now. I think it would be necessary.”

Psychological support

Nadège, too, remains concerned about the impact on her children: “My youngest, nine years old, was really terrified this morning. “It’s starting to get a little better, but we’ll have to watch over the next few days.”

The event was trying and the residents felt the need to share it: “Psychologically, it feels good to talk to each other among neighbors,” confides Nadège.

Before returning to her apartment, Marilyn says, as if to convince herself: “Come on, let’s move on. Finally… We’re trying! »

-

Related News :