the testimony of residents after the fatal fire in Caluire

Around fifty people were in the building when the fire broke out. The occupants describe a building that is dilapidated and dangerous.

The day after the fatal fire which broke out on the night of Monday December 2 to Tuesday December 3 in the squat of the former Denuzière boarding school in Caluire-et-Cuire, the building still bears the traces of the disaster. The facade is blackened by flames, and the smell of smoke lingers in the air.

Around 50 people were in the building when the fire broke out. A woman died and four people were injured, two seriously.

“They came and knocked on the door, they said ‘get out, get out, there’s a fire’. We also rushed out. A lot of people shouted, with the smoke. It was very dangerous. (We was) very, very scared”, says an occupant of the building.

The building considered dilapidated

Some people there panicked and jumped out of windows to escape the flames. “A friend jumped from the third floor. He is in the hospital. There are two women who are also burned,” reports another man present at the scene.

The building in question had been squatted for more than a year, and the premises were considered dilapidated and dangerous in the eyes of the occupants.

“There are leaks everywhere, it’s poorly installed. There’s no heating, there’s no hot water. There’s nothing, it’s a rotten building,” says one of them.

The question of responsibility

For the neighbors living across the street from the building, there is no doubt that the building was dangerous.

“All the precarious installations that were made inside, it was a lot of waste. There was electricity, etc., they had to arrange it themselves. Obviously, it was not done according to the rules art,” explains Marc, a resident.

In the aftermath of the events, the question of responsibility now arises. Indeed, the city of Lyon owns the building and the municipality of Caluire had itself already warned about the dilapidation of the premises.