Tears roll down the cheeks. The lines are drawn. For the residents of buildings B5 and B6 of Negadis, a social residence located on Boulevard Emile-Thomas in Draguignan, the wake-up call was brutal the day after New Year's Eve.
It was ten o'clock on Wednesday January 1, 2025, when a fire broke out on the ground floor of building B6. “The fire then spread to the upper floors through the balconies, which were filled with various objects”reports the commander of the Var firefighters on site during a situation update with the elected officials of Draguignan and the police services. “When we arrived, the two upper floors were already engulfed in flames,” continues the officer.
A slight injury
And to continue the story of the intervention. “We were able to evacuate 22 people through the stairwell, and confined those on the top floor, while we put out the flames”he reports. “One person was slightly injured, a possible sprained ankle, during the evacuation”specifies the communication from the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) of Var around noon.
“In total, there are three apartments impacted on entrance B6 and one on entrance B5, on the third floor”totals the operations commander on site. Around noon, “we have just finished the extinguishing operations; now we have to clear out all the charred furniture.”
At the same time, firefighters were on the balconies of the affected apartments and threw out all the burnt items present in the apartments. In total, more than thirty firefighters were in action, as well as municipal and national police officers.
Fireworks at the origin of the disaster
On site, several elected officials from Draguignan tackled the issue of rehousing. “There was a fire, the origin of which would be linked to stored on the balcony”, indicates Jean-Yves Fort, deputy mayor of Draguignan responsible for security, to the residents using the megaphone of a municipal police car. “There are a certain number of apartments affected, you need to come see us, so that we can find you a rehousing solution as quickly as possible,” he invites them.
A daunting task ahead. “We have around 32 people who we will have to rehouse,” he adds in an aside. “But this figure could be higher, if the neighboring apartments are also unusable due to the water deployed by the firefighters and the power cut as part of the intervention.” These people must be supported by Saiem, the social landlord who owns the social residence.
More information to come…
