An investigation is open after the fire this Wednesday, November 4 at the entrance to the Vigan-Braquet leisure center in Bagnols. It would be of criminal origin according to the police and the president of the Gard Rhone Agglomeration who denounces “a senseless act carried out by stupidity and unconsciousness”.
Only some debris remains from the entrance hall of the Vigan-Braquet leisure center in Bagnols-sur-Cèze after the fire which broke out this Wednesday, November 6 shortly before 7 a.m. When the director arrived on the scene to open the center, a household waste container was burning in front of the entrance. The rapid intervention of around ten firefighters made it possible to limit the spread of the fire. Only the entrance to the building was burned and the door was completely destroyed.
According to a police source present at the scene, “the fire would probably be of criminal origin because the gate to access the site was closed”. The investigation was entrusted to the Bagnols police station. “Technical operations under the porch where the fire started and a neighborhood investigation will be carried out to determine the causes of the disaster”specifies Commander Laurent Pailhories.
“This leisure center is much more than a building”
“Although verifications are still in progress, everything suggests that this act was deliberatereacted in a press release Jean-Christian Rey, the president of the Gard Rhone agglomeration (it is the Agglo which manages the leisure centers). I would like to express my strongest anger and my dismay at such a senseless act carried out by stupidity and unconsciousness which have no place in our community.” “This leisure center is much more than a building: it embodies a place of welcome, security and development for our children […] I want to reaffirm my total solidarity with the supervisory team, the children, their families who live alongside each other in this center. […] We will do everything we can to ensure that those who perpetrated this irresponsible act are identified and held accountable for their actions.”
Children welcomed at the Celestin-Freinet school
Usually, 88 children aged between 3 and 12 come every Wednesday for after-school activities. The gate to access the Vigan-Braquet recreational center was closed at the end of the morning after the intervention of the firefighters. “In the state, the premises are unusableindicates the Agglo. Under the effect of the heat, the soot spread throughout the building. An emergency solution was put in place with reception at the Célestin-Freinet nursery school. At 9 a.m., 44 children had reached the site located 750 m higher, on the school path. The Agglo must meet with the town hall of Bagnols in the coming days to find a new reception location because the Vigan-Braquet center will remain closed “for several weeks”.
