At the end of November, Italian delegates were burned by an ethanol lamp at the Le Caveau 30 restaurant in Cannes. Their lawyer claims that the City and the establishment failed in their obligations. And therefore decided to file a complaint against them.
“We first want to emphasize that we have a thought for the victims,” says Thierry Migoule, the chief of staff of the mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard. “We think of them before thinking of responsibilities.” But nevertheless notes that “the action against the town hall is difficult to understand. Moreover, if it had been inside, it could have been worse.”
For the City, the law was respected. “Bioethanol lamps are not part of the bans provided for by Law No. 2021-1104 of August 22, 2021 on the fight against climate change and strengthening resilience to its effects.”
“No usage process had been put in place”
But she points out the poor handling of the lamp. “There is also a question of common sense: you do not throw gasoline on a flame.”
And is based on the order relating to the temporary administrative closure of the Le Caveau 30 establishment, on which it is written that “it appears, according to the first elements collected, that the non-compliance with the rules of use provided for these equipment constitutes the main cause of the fire which resulted in injuries to five people” and that “this situation results from a failure to comply with risk prevention obligations in an establishment open to the public.”
-And specifies that “the staff of the establishment, having heard about the use of Fire Lanterns, indicated having received summary training by their management, specifying that no use process had been put in place, that bottles of gel and liquid bioethanol were seized” and that “witnesses, interviewed, confirmed that the server had used liquid bioethanol (white bottle) and not gel (transparent bottle) as indicated in the instructions to relight the lanterns.”
An analysis of this system requested from the Prefecture
And regarding the other case of burns by an ethanol lamp, which would have taken place in March 2024? The municipality assures us: it “has never been aware of similar accidents occurring on the Cannes terraces. It has never been alerted to this subject.”
Finally, the City would like to specify that it immediately “requested an analysis of this system from the Prefecture by letter from David Lisnard, mayor of Cannes, dated November 28, 2024, and brought together the restaurateurs using it so that they stop together the proper use of this device.”
And concludes: “It follows from the above that there is no reason to seek the responsibility of Cannes Town Hall.”
