Hauts-de-Seine: a simple Christmas garland at the origin of a terrible tragedy

Christmas night turned into a disaster for the locals of an apartment located on the 7th floor of a building in Colombes, in the Hauts-de-Seine, located rue Henri-Barbusse. In the middle of the night around 3 a.m., the four occupants of the accommodation rushed out of their apartment.

A Christmas wreath has transformed the apartment into a giant fire

According to information from Le Parisien, it is an electric garland which decorated the Christmas tree which would be at the origin of the drama. This indeed caught fire, triggering the start of a fire. The tree then ignited, and the fire quickly spread to the entire dwelling. According to a police source “There would have been a short circuit in the TV because of the connection of the garland, the fire spread throughout the apartment”. Indeed, the garland and the television were connected on the same power stripwhich caused a short circuit and started the fire around 3 a.m. For an hour, firefighters fought to contain the flames. About ten machines and twenty firefighters were needed to put an end to the fire.

The four occupants of the apartment were taken to the Louis-Mourier hospital in “relative emergency”, having been intoxicated by the fumes. The accommodation being completely destroyed, they were taken in charge by the city in order to find a rehousing solution. This is what also happened in 2017 to a family from Bergues, near Dunkirk in the North. Their house had burned down while they were waking up at friends’ house a few miles away. In both cases, fortunately, there were no casualties.