what we know about the fire in a squatted building which left two seriously injured

At midday this Tuesday, November 3 in Caluire-et-Cuire, the fire at the Denuzière boarding school which occurred at 1 a.m. was contained. Firefighters continue their search in the rubble while local residents can still smell the burning smell. The results are still provisional, but already a controversy is brewing between elected officials in Lyon.

A fire broke out on the night of Monday 2 to Tuesday 3 December shortly before 1 a.m. in the former Denuzière boarding school, currently squatted and owned by the city of Lyon located at 1 Montée de la Boucle in Caluire-et- Cook, very close to the Croix-Rousse district (4th arrondissement of Lyon).

• Two seriously injured, more than 130 firefighters deployed

Significant emergency resources were deployed: 139 firefighters and Samu du Rhône teams.

When firefighters arrived in front of the building, thick black smoke was escaping through windows from which victims were calling for help.

Of the fifty people living in the former Denuzière boarding school, four were injured, including two seriously, according to the report communicated by the Rhône prefecture at 6:45 a.m. this Tuesday morning. The two people hospitalized in absolute emergency jumped out of the window to escape the fire.

• Searches still underway at midday

The victims were evacuated with a bus requisitioned from TCL to a reception center organized by the Red Cross. A medical-psychological emergency cell was activated.

The fire was brought under control after more than two hours of fighting, around 3:31 a.m. At midday, a strong smell of burning still hung around the former boarding school, BFM Lyon noted on site.

At that time, firefighters were still searching the rubble for potentially missing people.

• A dangerous and unsanitary building

The building was considered unsanitary and dangerous. In a report commissioned in November 2023, after the arrival of residents evicted from the Pyramide squat in the Gerland district of Lyon, the municipal police of Caluire-et-Cuire noted “traces of water infiltration, cracks, a non-compliant electricity network, the absence of a drinking water network and emergency exits.

On the basis of these findings, the town hall of Caluire-et-Cuire issued a municipal decree prohibiting access to the building, at the beginning of November 2023, recalling “[qu’] part of it had already collapsed in the past.”

• Lyon town hall singled out by the opposition

The opening of this squat had provoked the anger of the town of Caluire-et-Cuire which had denounced the “hypocrisy” of the town of Lyon, owner of the premises, which had filed a complaint for the intrusion but had not requested the evacuation of the squatters.

A few hours after this fire, at midday, the elected representatives of the Right, Center and Independent opposition group in the Lyon municipal council denounced in a press release “a scenario written in advance”.

“The mayor of Lyon then chose not to request the evacuation of this squat and no danger order was issued. The criminal liability of the mayor of Lyon is therefore engaged here. Many times in the municipal council, we have denounced the hypocrisy of this so-called policy of hospitality practiced by this New Popular Front majority pushed by politically close collectives”, attack the elected officials led by Pierre Oliver.

The opposition group draws a parallel with the squat of the former Gilibert school located in the Perrache district (2nd arrondissement of Lyon). “How many other squats are found in buildings belonging to the city of Lyon or, on its territory, to public actors such as social landlords? Do we need other tragedies to emerge from this blindness?”, they denounce .

The mayor of Lyon informed BFM Lyon that she “will not communicate immediately”.