A woman was hospitalized in absolute emergency after an intentional fire this Sunday morning in Poitiers. The disaster which also caused the evacuation of 19 residents broke out in the Trois-Cités district, where several anti-drug operations took place recently, said firefighters and a source close to the investigation.
An open investigation
The fire was started around 6 a.m., from supermarket trolleys and a scooter parked at the foot of the building. Two other fires were observed from trash cans pushed onto the public highway near the incident, the same source said, confirming information from the local daily La Nouvelle République.
The 70 firefighters mobilized evacuated 19 people. A 75-year-old woman, seriously burned to the respiratory tract, was transported in absolute emergency to Poitiers University Hospital. Three children and an adult were also evacuated in relative emergency, according to firefighters.
The victims found refuge in a local public school. An investigation was opened for “damage by arson” and entrusted to the property crime brigade of the territorial crime division of the Poitiers police station. The scientific police took samples on site.
The Trois Cités district has been the subject, for several months, of constant attention from the police services as part of the dismantling of drug trafficking. This fall, searches and arrests took place twice, on October 22 and November 6. According to several local sources, the bottom of the burned building was a former deal point, dismantled last summer.
