“It was 3:02 am exactly, because the time is displayed on the ceiling of our room, says Patrick Baronnier, when I heard a creak in the house. I got up, thinking of burglars, arrived at the foot of the stairs. Again, I hear a creak, so I go up to the office, and under the door I see a light and I realize that the door is hot. Carefully I open it and I see the flames. I closed the door right away, to avoid the draft, and with my cell phone I went to the meadow to call the fire brigade, because I had no network. »
“Half the house is saved”
In fact, it was the pipe above the boiler room that burst, and set fire to the chimney in the room used as an office. Very quickly, the firefighters of Villars-les-Dombes arrived with two vehicles, those of Ambérieux-en-Dombes, those of Trévoux with the large ladder and an ambulance from Vonnas. “They were extraordinary, hats off, they saved the roof of the residential part for us by watering it, explain, very relieved, Patrick and Martine Baronnier, who can thus stay at home. Half of the house is saved and we are there, they relativize. The documents stored in the office are lost, but we had time to get the dogs and vehicles out. »
The owners used a mixed wood-oil heater. “The experts from the various trades acted quickly, they came by, we will wait for their conclusions and certainly consider another heating mode. In the immediate future, they can heat two living rooms with a large fireplace, with wood.