Fire at the Christmas village of Barcarès: “It’s unbearable and horrible”, the reaction of mayor Alain Ferrand who says he is “angry”

A large fire broke out during the night from Sunday to Monday and ravaged part of the famous “Christmas village” in the town of Barcarès, in the Pyrénées-Orientales. The fire reportedly broke out around 4:30 a.m. and destroyed at least 7 chalets.

“It’s unbearable and horrible”, confided to our colleagues at The Independentthe mayor of Barcarès, Alain Ferrand. “Beyond all the economic, social and collateral consequences of this disaster, I am thinking of all my teams who, given my imposed absence, mobilized tirelessly to organize this edition which promised to be exceptional”, – he then declared.

Around sixty firefighters were deployed to put out the fire. After 3 hours of fighting, at 7:30 a.m., the fire was contained, according to our colleagues. No injuries were reported. Alain Ferrand spoke of a “drama”. “I feel pain and also immeasurable anger at not being able to help and support the municipal teams, all the people impacted, businesses, artisan traders directly,” he added.

The mayor released after 6 months in prison

Alain Ferrand is kept away from town hall because of suspicions of “favoritism”. He was released from prison on Thursday, October 31, after spending six months behind bars and was placed under judicial supervision. He is accused of having favored a private company regarding the call for tenders for the construction of wooden chalets for the famous Christmas market.