the fire “could have been dramatic”, three tenants jumping from the floor to escape

It could have been dramatic : this comment, collected yesterday morning, is from the first magistrate of Aigondigné Patricia Rouxel, then accompanied by the deputy mayor of Mougon, Évelyne Thibault, to carry out checks on the good condition of municipal infrastructure. Because the two elected had been alerted a little before 7 a.m., that a fire had broken out in a small collective located at number 1 of the route de Triou, in the town of Mougon.

To escape the flames, parts of a garbage container located in front of the facade and blocking the exit from the stairwell, as well as the smoke rising, the three tenants living on the first floor had to jump from the windows. All aged around twenty, they were in « urgence relative », said the firefighters: one was injured while landing, the other two – a couple – having started to inhale the fumes.

” At first,
I don't have
understood that
it was a fire”

“It’s scary” whispered, a little more than three hours after the fire started, the fourth resident of this large building: this young woman of 19 years old occupies the apartment on the ground floor, still habitable despite a partly blackened interior wall. Unlike, according to the owners also met on site, to the two other T2s upstairs: their usual tenants will not be able to move back in before Wednesday, in the best case scenario.

The premises will be monitored

” At first, asks the inhabitant of the ground floor, I didn't understand that it was a fire, I thought it was the “beep-beep” of a truck. » It was actually the fire alarm from one of the apartments above. At the same time, “ I saw the flames through the door”, partly glazed.

A motorist who was passing by stopped and called for help: coming from the Aigondigné, Celles-sur-Belle and Niort barracks, around twenty firefighters were mobilized. A little after 10 a.m., the owners took over: in addition to finishing cleaning, they attached plywood panels to temporarily block, in particular, access to the stairwell. Thanks to the insurance of the real estate company, a professional “will ensure security, day and night, until Wednesday”, they clarified, aware that their tenants “Were all very scared.”

“A voluntary act”

An investigation has been opened to determine the origin of the disaster: it is in the hands of the gendarmes of the community of brigades of Melle. “The first investigations are moving towards the hypothesis of a voluntary act”, confirmed, at the end of the day, squadron leader Patrick Pivetta, commanding the Niort company.

Especially since less than 200 m from No. 1 Route de Triou, at the start of Rue René-Gaillard serving the football stadium of the same name, another garbage container burned. With more limited damage.