Fatal fire in Mérignac: 15-year-old adolescent examined after death of two firefighters
A minor aged 15 has been examined following the fire of 21 July in Mérignac which claimed the lives of two firefighters. His older brother, released.
Minor examined over fire that killed two firefighters near Bordeaux
A 15-year-old adolescent has been examined as part of the investigation into the fatal fire of 21 July in Mérignac (Gironde), near Bordeaux airport, according to lindependant.fr. The young man is suspected of having thrown a cigarette butt that caused the blaze, which claimed the lives of two professional firefighters.
In police custody, the minor exonerated his older brother, aged 22, who had also been arrested. The latter was released, while the younger brother was placed in a closed educational centre, according to information confirmed by BFMTV and from a source close to the case.
Two adjudants trapped in a plot of blazing pines
On 21 July, the truck carrying the two firefighters had been "trapped" in a plot of burning pines, according to Marc Vermeulen, director of the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) of Gironde. Wilfried Schmitter and Anthony Berthôme, two adjudants aged 34, lost their lives during this operation.
The week following their death, they were cited in the Order of the Nation, a distinction created in 1917 to reward "services or acts of exceptional dedication accomplished for France at the risk of one's life, in a civil or military capacity". Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu distinguished them for their "total commitment", on the proposal of Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez, who had visited a Bordeaux barracks the day after their death to meet their families.
Firefighter unions "very disappointed" after their meeting with the minister
The death of the two adjudants, which occurred two weeks after that of a 22-year-old volunteer firefighter who died in a fire in Savoy, had fuelled the anger of union organisations, which denounced the insufficient resources allocated to rescue services.
On Thursday, the nine representative unions of the Sdis, united in an inter-union, were received for nearly two hours by Laurent Nuñez at the Interior Ministry. They left "very disappointed" by the minister's commitments and announced a national mobilisation for September.
A record year for forest fires in France
The Mérignac fire occurred in a particularly severe context. In France, the year 2026, marked by repeated heatwaves, is already recording a record surface area burned over twenty years of satellite measurements, according to the European fire surveillance system Effis, which has recorded nearly 100,000 hectares already consumed by smoke.
The Gironde megafire, triggered the day after the death of the two firefighters, covered more than 40,000 hectares alone according to estimates by the authorities. On Thursday evening, several fires were still active in the South-West (Landes), the West (south of Rennes) and the North (Pas-de-Calais).
Source: Google News LU FR