A man placed in police custody in the Hérault admitted on Thursday to having caused several fires to start in the town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière. He says he wanted to “extract himself from an oppressive family environment” and evokes “the excitement” that the interventions of the firefighters would have caused in him.
Placed in police custody as part of an investigation linked to fire starts in the Hérault, a man, who works as a volunteer firefighter, admitted the facts on Thursday. According to a press release from the public prosecutor of Montpellier, the individual admitted to being at the origin of the fires which were observed in the town of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière on July 21 and on the night of July 26. 27. He also indicated that he provoked that of Privas which declared itself on May 26, all with the help of a simple lighter.
The man was arrested on Wednesday by the police. The statement details the reasons that led him to start these fires. According to his own words, the individual wanted to “cause firefighters to intervene in order to get out of an oppressive family environment or because of the excitement that the interventions caused him”.
He faces 15 years in prison
In front of the police, this volunteer firefighter even spoke of “adrenaline”. He also spoke of a need for “social recognition”. In parallel with his activities as a firefighter, the man was elected to the municipal council of Saint-Jean-de-la-Blaquière and worked as a forester.
The press release specifies that the procedure “will be the subject of a judicial investigation of the destruction of forests, moors, maquis or plantations of others which have taken place under conditions likely to expose people to bodily harm”. For this damage, the man incurs 15 years of criminal imprisonment and a 150,000 euro fine.