A fire breaks out in the nave of the Saint-Hilaire church in Poitiers

Warned by parents from the school next door, the firefighters intervened this Thursday, October 3 to smoke releases in the Saint-Hilaire churchin Poitiers. The alert was given shortly before 9 a.m.. Once arrived on site, the emergency services launched a reconnaissance procedure inside. They noticed a fire breaking out in the nave, which is at this time “extinguished”, add the emergency services. There was no one inside at the time of the fire.

“There was a single foyer in the middle of the navevarious materials that burned, including wood, specifies column leader Laurent Aucher. The priest told us that the wooden altar was there, perhaps that is it.” 19 firefighters were mobilized for the intervention. At midday, the smoke extraction from the church using fans was still not completed.

Circumstances not yet known

Two fire trucks were mobilized on site. According to Amir Mistrih, city deputy in charge of security and public peace, the church was closed. The electricity was cut off in the building, time to find out more about the reasons for this start of fire. They remain unknown at the moment.

The city’s heritage services and the DRAAC were also on site to take stock of the classified works and objects located in the religious building, in particular two organs (the oldest of which dates from 1884) and the relics of Saint -Hilaire in the crypt.