After the flames, anger and misunderstanding. Almost a month after the fire which ravaged more than 750 hectares at Pennes-Mirabeau and north of Marseille, the trauma is still lively for the victims, who wonder: were there any breaches in the command chain on fire? Some residents of the affected districts denounce the too late arrival of the firefighters, but also the prefectural instruction asking the inhabitants to confine themselves instead of evacuating.
“Ask why”
To obtain answers, many of them have gathered within the “collective of the fire of July 8”, created a few days after the disaster, due to a vehicle in flames on the edge of the motorway. “We quickly understood that in groups we were going to move forward faster,” explains Emmanuel, disaster victims of the Saint-Henri district, in the 16th arrondissement.
According to official figures, 91 dwellings were affected by the flames, including 50 completely destroyed. “Everyone is well aware that it is not normal for a hundred houses to burn in Marseille,” he poses. Three meetings have already taken place, bringing together a hundred people, while the WhatsApp group dedicated to the collective has more than 600 members.
Advised by a lawyer, they submitted requests to administrations to obtain firefighters and the prefecture different official documents concerning the day of July 8, such as intervention reports, the plan to mobilize means, the report of operations … Parts accessible to the public, ensures the victims, which should allow the details of the communications and orders given.
“We will know exactly when the firefighters arrived at the scene of the claims,” he says. We only have only “on-said”, but having these documents will allow us to have evidence and ask why. To consider a collective complaint? “We don’t want to rush things,” says Emmanuel. The collective could ultimately be formed in association.
Already filed complaints
But some did not wait. According to several victims, around 90 individual complaints have already been filed. A figure that has not been confirmed by the Marseille prosecution. Dominique, member of the collective and resident of the Marinier valley at the Estaque, is one of them. She decided to file a complaint against X for endangering the life of others and destruction of goods.
During the fire, his garden was destroyed and the heat heavily damaged the interior of his home. “I have recovered my house, but psychologically I am cracked,” she says. And to tell: “I left because I saw the flames arriving on the right and on the left, there were no firefighters. I was very afraid to grill. For me, it must be signified. For this resident of the neighborhood for thirty years, the process has been morally beneficial.
For Christian, who lost his house on the rise of the Pichou, at the Estaque, the filing of a complaint was also the means to express his anger. “Normally, a fire is taken from the start. There we do not understand why there was no one, ”deplores this member of the collective.
He also enraged the prefect’s communication, who had justified himself a week after the fire in a press release, assuming “all of his decisions” and welcoming that no dead or injured has been to deplore. “If I had stayed in my house, if I had obeyed the instructions, I would be dead,” says Christian, currently relocated in a commune in the department.
A meeting at the start of the school year
The objective of the approach is also to learn from the future. “Once the anger has passed, we don’t want to happen again,” said Emmanuel. In the meantime, everyone “does their best”. The collective was divided into several groups, according to the skills of each: administrative help, clearing of the land, referral to the one-stop shop set up by the town hall … “There are non-conveniences which also give us help, salutes the local resident, which evokes exhaustion in the face of the steps to be taken. The idea is that we don’t feel too alone. »»
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A next meeting will take place at the start of the school year to make a new point on the situation. Until then, the collective hopes to have first elements of response.