The firefighters indicated that they had been warned shortly before 4 a.m. of a fire within the premises of the public works company Charpentier, in the town of L'Oie.
Eight heavy goods vehicles and construction equipment were affected, six of which were completely charred, an AFP correspondent noted in the morning.
Criminal identification specialists from the gendarmerie were on site but the gendarmes refused to comment on the origin of the fire.
Claim
In an email sent shortly after 5 a.m. to the AFP editor-in-chief, an organization presenting itself as “Stop Mégabassines” claimed responsibility for this “disarmament” action.
“Early this morning, on November 25, 2024, we set fire to the construction equipment of the Charpentier group, more particularly those of its public works subsidiary”, in “direct response to the participation of this company in the Méga- Bassines” in Vendée, Charente-Maritime and Deux-Sèvres, affirms this message.
“Any actor who will be associated with future Méga-Bassines projects […] will suffer the consequences,” this message threatens.
According to “Stop Mégabassines”, which could not be contacted directly by AFP, “putting these machines out of harm's way makes it possible to concretely stop the construction sites in progress and to remind us that no one responsible for them is unattainable. »
The La Roche-sur-Yon public prosecutor’s office “favors a voluntary departure, with several outbreaks of fire,” prosecutor Sarah Huet told an AFP correspondent.
Ongoing investigation
The Vendée gendarmerie research section and the gendarmerie group are responsible for the investigation, according to the same source.
Thierry Boudaud, president of Coop de l'eau 79, leader of the basin projects, is indignant. “We have been denouncing this unacceptable operation for years. It is completely intolerable to put lives in danger, to put local businesses in difficulty under the pretext that they serve ideas that are not theirs! »
For her part, Vendée MP Véronique Besse (various right) denounced this fire on her X account.
“These eco-terrorists must be severely condemned! I am counting on Bruno Retailleau [le ministre de l’Intérieur, NDLR] to react firmly. Total support for this Vendée company! »
Highlighted by the violence that occurred in March 2023 during banned demonstrations in Sainte-Soline (Deux-Sèvres), the “basins” are presented by their supporters as “substitute reserves” aimed at storing water drawn from the water tables in winter in order to irrigate crops in summer, essential according to them in the face of repeated droughts.
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