2023-07-03 08:39:00
The firefighters of the Hemeco rescue zone in Huy are angry. Not only, after the two suspicious fires of the night from Saturday to Sunday in the city center, they were again confronted with the same phenomenon the following night. But above all, this time, one of the fires was not limited to garbage cans and it almost indirectly caused the death of one of the firefighters.
Around 2:30 a.m. on Monday July 3, 2023, a first alert sent the firefighters to the hospital district, rue Saint-Domitien. There, like the day before, a garbage can is on fire. Presumably, this is an intentional act. The case is quickly settled since the firefighters are back at the barracks around 3am.
But barely back, a second call comes at 3:05 a.m. This time, it is on the left bank that the firefighters are required. But there, the intervention looks more complex. At the height of number 2 rue Entre-Deux Portes, it is in a small interior courtyard that the home has taken place. “There was a pile of rubbish there, notes Captain Christophe Jadot, an officer in the Hemeco rescue zone. There, given the cramped conditions, the fire spread to the rear facades and roofs.
And it was during this second intervention that a tragedy occurred. “At one point, a team of three firefighters was on a platform. They had to cut into it to gain access to the flames that had spread inside a building, continues Captain Jadot. given, the team leader realized that there were only two left on the platform!”
Where was the third firefighter? At night, in the smoke and with a mask on their face, we can imagine the stress of the firefighters looking for their colleague… “They saw that their colleague had fallen in another small inner courtyard, 7 meters below! , continues Captain Christophe Jadot. They saw that the helmet was no longer moving…”
But to help their colleague, there too the firefighters faced some difficulties. “It’s such an imbroglio of buildings that we had to break down four doors before gaining access to our colleague.” Fortunately, this one (Editor’s note: it is a woman firefighter) was able to be effectively taken care of and transferred to the Citadel hospital, in Liège. “Her life is not in danger, reassures Christophe Jadot. But she suffers from several vertebral fractures and a collapse of the column…”
But afterwards, the emergency services still had to finish the job by extinguishing the fire. “We had to remobilize the team which was angry!” A psychological support unit has been made available to firefighters and the authorities of the rescue zone intend to file a complaint in due form.
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