Fire in Laniscat: residents mobilize for the family who lost everything [En images]

“Honestly, it warms my heart. After the night we experienced, it shakes your skin to see such solidarity from people. » It's almost 4 p.m. this Sunday, November 10, and Raoul Riou only has two hours of sleep under his belt. Not enough to undermine the enthusiasm of the mayor of Bon-Repos-sur-Blavet (1,250 inhabitants), who has been on alert since 1 a.m. Alerted on his phone, the councilor hastily went to the town of Laniscat where the house located at no. 9 rue de l'Église was engulfed in flames.

When he arrived, all four occupants were in the street, unharmed. Awakened from their sleep, the parents and their two boys, aged 16 and 18, helplessly watched the fire in this home that they had been renting for a month and a half. According to initial information, the fire started in the bedroom of one of the children, upstairs. Large emergency resources were quickly deployed and 28 firefighters mobilized. The latter only left the scene, made safe by barriers installed by the municipality, at the end of the morning.

Transported to the Pontivy hospital center (56) for examinations, after inhaling smoke, the members of the family were, in the middle of the day, able to reach a lodging made available urgently by the municipality, in Saint-Gelven ( 22). Apart from the car, the pajamas and a few objects grabbed in a hurry, they have nothing left.

Around 9:30 a.m. this Sunday, the mayor launched a call for clothing donations on the Facebook page “Bon reste sur Blavet Infos” and on the “Mon Village” application. Sizes and points were specified. Message quickly and widely received by residents. “At 2 p.m., when we opened the doors of the council room to collect donations, there were already people waiting with filled bags,” says Lionel Le Madec, deputy. The ballet of generous souls, some coming from surrounding communities, will not stop throughout the afternoon.

I don't know this family, but I tell myself that we would be very happy if people helped us if that happened to us.

Kindness in disaster

Coats, sweaters, pants, shoes, bags, quilts, towels, hygiene products, cans, pasta, sweets, etc. “We had to add tables because we received so much business,” emphasizes the assistant. At 3:30 p.m., Valérie and her daughter Coralie, who had already come an hour earlier, returned, this time with shampoos, shower gels and toothpaste. “I don’t know this family, but I tell myself that we would be very happy if people helped us if that happened to us.”

For the mayor, supported by five elected officials and several volunteers, the next step is already looming: helping the family find new housing and, of course, furnishing it. In this devastating fire, Raoul Riou also saw things that moved him greatly. Like these members of the secular association, whose pancake evening took place 100 m from the burning house, who offered drinks and pastries to the firefighters in the early morning.