“In the space of two hours, everything went up in smoke.” Fire in a historic district, what measures to take?

The fire destroyed a restaurant in old Mans, at 79 Grande Rue. The damage also concerns another neighboring establishment. The fire created a great stir in this district of the old town.

“It’s a bit like our baby”declares Sébastien Blondeau, the owner of the restaurant “L’auberge des 7 dishes” in Le Mans. The establishment was completely destroyed by a fire on the night of January 10 to 11.

Sébastien arrived there as an apprentice in 2000, then rose through the ranks until buying it out in 2012. The backlash was harsh, four days after the events.

“With my wife, we remember all the memories. We made it grow. In the space of two hours, everything went up in smoke,” he said.

This Wednesday, Sébastien will spend the day on site with a company which will intervene to prevent the soot from corroding everything. Finer than dust, it is made of particles which are acidic, hence the need to treat the impacted area.

The entire building is affected. The fire broke out on the top floor, in the attic, where the employee locker room is located, but also the laundry room with the washing machines. We are moving towards an electrical origin of the disaster, but without specifying, for the moment, where exactly.

Below, the four levels where the restaurant rooms were located were destroyed, up to the vaulted cellar.

“Tomorrow, it will be tarpaulin to protect from the rain”adds Sébastien. The two adjoining buildings were also damaged by this fire. Another restaurant, “O Comptoir des Cocotes” suffered damage.

“I am lucky to have an insurance contract with an operating loss, but now it is unknown for me”is still worried about Jérôme Blondeau who will try to relocate the dozen employees to other establishments where he is associated, “so as not to lose them”he said.

The rapid intervention of the firefighters made it possible to prevent the fire from spreading in this district of the Plantagenêt city with its narrow streets. The alert, received at 3:34 a.m. on the night of Friday to Saturday, mobilized nearly 70 firefighters and a dozen vehicles. Fortunately, they were able to approach the disaster without difficulty. “No one was parked wrong”was able to observe the restaurateur who was warned by a neighbor.

On the town hall side, we salute the efficiency of the firefighters. “A discussion will be initiated to add cameras for fire detection in addition to those present at Place Saint-Pierre, Place de l’Eperon and at the cathedral, declared Stéphane Le Foll, the mayor of Le Mans. Work will be carried out with local residents to prohibit parking in key locations.”

That night, it was noted that a vehicle had prevented an ambulance from passing through a street which, fortunately, was not essential to the intervention of the firefighters.

► See the report by Charles Lemercier, Charles Proult and Dominique Le Brun

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