Damien appears free. He has been released from detention and has an electronic bracelet. As is the procedure, the president reads the indictment order. She lists all the facts that the accused is accused of.
“I acknowledge all the facts with which I am accused”
Then she asks him the question: “Do you acknowledge all the facts? ” answer : “Yes, I acknowledge all the facts even if I don’t remember everything…because of the alcohol”. The tone of the trial is set. Damien will only repeat in different forms that he recognizes everything but does not remember everything. The court begins by reviewing the personality of the accused. At length. The defense called numerous witnesses close to Damien. And it quickly becomes clear that Damien’s first three unions were not happy.
Romantic disappointments and alcohol
“When he got married, that’s when everything started to go wrong” said Christian, the father of the accused. It went badly with his first partner who cheated on him. It went badly with his second partner and his mother added: “The third one was the best, she pushed him to drink.” Low self-esteem.
“I felt like I had failed at everything ” said Damien, who is starting to drink. He has to face a tax audit and a 40,000 euro tax assessment. He is gradually sinking into depression. His last partner, the fourth, is present at the hearing.”A pearl this one” said the mother. She supports him even if she had the impression of being betrayed when the gendarmerie called her to tell her that her companion had started a fire. Damien’s faults appear little by little. Too kind said his family. He didn’t know how to say no. And above all, he was an alcoholic.
The crazy morning of July 27, 2022
Chief Warrant Officer Brioude, the director of investigation, comes to tell the court about this crazy morning of July 27, 2022. Damien is going to pick up one of his employees in Villeneuve-de-Berg to take him to Aubenas. He takes the direction of Vesseaux. A video surveillance camera captures his car: he stops there to buy a bottle of wine. He’s going to drink it a little further. Then he lights a first fire in Saint-Etienne-de-Boulogne with a lighter. He doesn’t stop anymore. It goes back down to Saint-Privat and heads towards Lussas. At the foot of the Côte de l’Echelette, he lights a second fire. Then he does the same in Lussas, Darbres, Freyssenet. He was arrested at 11:40 a.m. while walking down the road to Saint-Julien-du-Serre where he had just lit a fire for the thirteenth time. The gendarmes noted a blood alcohol level of 0.74 grams of alcohol per liter of exhaled air.
“I don’t know why I did that.”
Damien has no explanation for his actions. One of the lawyers for the civil parties tries to ask the witness if he had a fascination with fire. The answers are all the same: a categorical no. He admits to all the facts but only remembers 6 fires starting. He does not provide an explanation other than his alcoholism.
A giant fire
The fire which swept through the Lussas area in Vogüé did not cause any casualties and no buildings were damaged thanks to the work of the firefighters. There were 600 of them on the ground on July 27 to try to keep the fire away from the campsites or the Lavilledieu industrial zone. And at least 120 vehicles not counting air assets. 350 campers had to be evacuated. “Our men took significant risks” explains Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Philippe Ladet who represents the Ardèche fire and rescue service (SDIS). “And while we were mobilized on these fires, it was the safety of the people of Ardèche that was less assured.“.
