Fire in downtown Metz: why is the firefighter response so complex?

Few fires in the city center take this long to be brought under control. Moselle firefighters are mobilized to the same fire from the night of Saturday 16 to Sunday 17 Novemberin the historic city center of Metz. The fire started in the basement of the building housing the emblematic Hisler bookstoreat the corner of rue Ambroise-Thomas and rue du Palais. After several hours of intervention, flames also ravaged the roof of the building.

This Monday, around forty firefighters were still on sitewith around ten emergency vehicles. But why is the procedure so complicated? “What makes the intervention so long are the complex pathways” underground, indicates Lieutenant-Colonel Gaël Zimmer, of the Moselle fire brigade headquarters. “These are buildings that are several decades old. The cellars have very large volumes. It is not the cellar that you have at home and which only takes up a part. There, we really have the entire building.”

Risks of collapse

These cellars are often L-shaped, with different wooden stairs. “Some collapsed”continues the lieutenant-colonel. “The premises must be secured since there is also a risk of the wooden floors collapsing. They are weakened once they have heated and taken on water.” So-called handrail devices have been installed: “ropes that we fix on the walls, on which the staff will attach themselves to be able to go down into the cellar”specifies Gaël Zimmer.

“We systematically carry out an assessment before committing, we have a team specialized in rescue-clearance which first carries out a building analysis, and which sets up these systems”he continues. The firefighters also carried out water pumping operations to facilitate access, even if “water quantities have been controlled to avoid worsening the condition of apartments and stores”assures the lieutenant-colonel. The businesses were also fully covered.

The particular architecture of these old cellars also explains the reason for the second fire, which started just under the attic. “We had a very significant build-up of heat in the basement. The first pairs involved were blocked after 5-6 steps”describes the firefighter. “We can assume that there are technical ducts and conduits which bring the hot gases to the upper part. When they accumulate, we can have a generalized conflagration and propagation in this way.”