Jeanine and Michel Bordères will be able to return to accommodation next week, at the Visitation residence. In this regard, they would like to thank the mayor of Orthez for his support. The octogenarian couple emerged miraculously unscathed from the fire which devastated their apartment located at the bottom of avenue du Corps-Franc-Pommiès in Orthez (see our November 18 edition). A call to the firefighters by a neighbor made it possible to limit the consequences to material damage.
Surrounded by smoke
“Around 1 a.m., I was starting to fall asleep, I heard a noise,” recalls Michel. I got up, and when I opened the front door which leads onto the landing, there was smoke everywhere! » Through the window, he sees flames coming from the ground floor.
“I quickly went to get two towels to put in front of my mouth,” he continues. Healthy reflex which will limit the inhalation of fumes. “Within two minutes, we were asphyxiated! », he breathes. Then the man takes his wife to the balcony, from where they will then descend safely. By a “carpenter’s ladder” for Michel. And thanks to that of the firefighters for Jeanine, who has mobility problems.
Michel Bordères and his wife Jeanine, who emerged unscathed from the fire, benefited from a great outpouring of solidarity.
Luce Garderes
Taken to the emergency room and kept under observation until the next morning, they were then welcomed by their two daughters, who lived nearby. “We’re not going to complain: we’re alive! », Michel wants to be positive.
Céline Bordères, trainer at the Nursing Training Institute (IFSI) in Orthez, testifies: “Our parents are doing well physically. Mom, who is disabled, is a little shocked but she verbalizes it,” she confides. Still very moved by the narrowly avoided tragedy, she wants to express her gratitude to the firefighters and the hospital staff.
Online prize pool
Lucas Minvielle, grandson of Jeanine and Michel Bordères, launched an online solidarity prize pool on the Leetchi platform. “They’re fine!” writes the young man. But they lost everything, this pot would finance several goods: clothing, furniture, housing, telephone, and various necessary devices for the elderly. » According to the latest news, the initiative had already mobilized nearly fifty people, and made it possible to collect a little more than 1,200 euros.
A local figure
“We had donations of clothes from family, neighbors, friends, colleagues, even students,” thanks Céline Bordères. His sister Brigitte, who works in the hospital's administrative services, took their father to have his hearing aids, destroyed in the fire, repaired. Glasses, dentures, car keys, etc. suffered the same fate. “Fortunately, we were able to recover the important papers: registration document, driving license, Vitale card, identity card,” smiles Michel Bordères.
The man is a local figure for having been elected municipal, deputy to René Ricarrère among others in the 1980s-1990s. A collector of old objects, he is also involved in associations such as the Union Cycliste Orthézienne, Gastounets, or History and Heritage of the Pays d'Orthez.
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