TORCY: 7 houses destroyed and 1 damaged after the spread of the fire, "it's a disaster"

The fire in a dwelling house, which was squatted but unoccupied when the disaster broke out, spread to six other dwellings and affected an eighth. 7 families for a total of more than 20 people no longer have a home. “It’s a disaster,” laments Mayor Philippe Pigeau. The victims were brought together at the Maison de Famille.

At 2 a.m., more than 140 firefighters had been mobilized. It was necessary to use a CCF Super, designed for forest fires and armed with a water cannon, to manage to contain the disaster.

All the info, and the photo and video report from creusot-infos.

The evening of Sunday December 11, 2002 and the night of December 11 to 12 will forever remain as one of the darkest pages of the town of Torcy. The house fire, which broke out shortly after 5 p.m., had terrible consequences for the semi-detached houses, since the fire spread through the roofs to six other houses.
The very nature of the roofs, made up of highly flammable tar and wood, as well as the wind, favored this spread.
A spread never before seen not only in Torcy and in the agglomeration of Le Creusot, but also in Saône-et-Loire…. With the exception, of course, of the bombardments of Le Creusot, by the English air force, during the Second World War, which had set the girl on fire.

Sunday evening, faced with the flames which spread from roof to roof and which ravaged all in their path, reducing the houses to ashes, the firefighters, despite constant attacks from the flames by means of numerous lances put into action, had the feeling helpless.
The fire seemed to spiral out of control. Faced with the scale of the situation and the disaster, more than 140 firefighters were mobilized behind the group leader Christophe Gallarati and in the wake of Commander Sébastien Deroche, column leader.
It is with the arrival of the 12,500 liter CCF, from Paray le Monial
with a cannon lance, that the situation began to develop favorably. Firefighters waging the war against the fire at the Seventh House, at number 280, could see the flames starting to become less violent. It was then nearly one o’clock in the morning.
But it was not until two o’clock that the fire was really under control, when it had started to do some damage to the eighth of the ten adjoining houses, but without destroying it.
The 142 firefighters and officers mobilized could begin to hope for a better end to the night, even if officially nothing had yet been definitively won.
Marc Makhlouf, sub-prefect of Autun, went there, as did Commander Gallet who heads the police station in Le Creusot.
All the victims of this extraordinary fire were gathered at the Maison de Famille. Namely the people who had their house destroyed, but also others who were evacuated in the face of the risks and/or who were inconvenienced by the release of smoke.

In Torcy, at the Résidence du Lac and in the population of the town, the trauma is obviously enormous. The Prefect of Saône-et-Loire will also visit the town on Monday to measure the extent of the damage as well as the extent of an unprecedented situation.

Alain BOLLERY

(Photos Alain BOLLERY)

The CCF Super which came from Paray le Monial is a vehicle which was acquired by the departmental council to fight against forest fires. Its striking power, at 2 a.m., seemed to have been particularly effective, despite the highly flammable level of the roofs of the houses which all touch, in blocks of ten, at the Résidence du Lac.
Our first article (11/12):
A violent house fire has just broken out on Rue du Vilet, not far from the town hall, at the Lac de Torcy residence.
More than twenty firefighters were first mobilized under the command of Lieutenant Christophe Gallarati, joined by Commander Sébastien Deroche, who heads the Creusot rescue center. Faced with the scale of the disaster and the risk of spreading to neighboring houses, the number of firefighters mobilized rose to forty at 7 p.m.
In addition to those of Creusot, firefighters from Montchanin, Montceau les Mines, Buxy, Givry, Chalon sur Saône went to the site.
The burning house was squatted but empty at the time of the disaster. There is therefore, and very fortunately, no victim to deplore. But significant damage to the tenants of the nearest houses who were evacuated, such as Virginie, who was in tears and who was comforted by Nadège Cantier, deputy mayor of Torcy, Philippe Pigeau, who was also on site. Virginie had to be hosted by her family for the night.
“It has been reported to the OPAC for weeks that this house is squatted and that this represents potential risks”, declared the two elected officials to creusot-infos. Becca Kheciri, plumber and heating engineer, was to intervene at the start of the week in the house, to secure the premises… The intervention, we suspect, will not take place. A representative of the OPAC of Saône-et-Loire went on site to study, if necessary, the needs for rehousing and to draw up an initial report.