We followed a full-scale fire safety exercise in the world’s largest museum
An explosion followed by a fire in the kitchen that spreads in one of the most frequented sites in the country, the Louvre museum. First assessment: five seriously injured. This is the scenario facing the 17 trainees, including 8 future commanders of rescue operations, the highest tactical function within the Paris fire brigade (BSPP), this November 30 afternoon.
The exercise is taking place on a sensitive site, recalls Commander Christian Debize, head of the training center for officers at the BSPP: “Here as at the Elysee, at the DGSI in Levallois, in large hospitals or at the Opera , we send the big cavalry from the start. ” And we then degrease if necessary… Manager of works at the Louvre museum, Nicolas Pouget is in charge of the plan to safeguard works of art. With the teams from each department, he prepared an inventory of those to be saved at all costs, by evacuating or protecting them. “A three-level ranking has been established, but a lot is happening in the conduct of operations,” he admits.
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The three command trucks are positioned: the post of the operations commander, the vehicle of the director of medical assistance and the command post of the Support and Rescue Group (GAS), the special units of the BSPP, which have specialists in protection of works of art and institutional buildings. Those assigned to the Louvre take more than a year to master this labyrinth of seven floors. They guide the backup firefighters. The head of the group of operational designers, Chief Warrant Officer Frédéric Noirot, went inside the building concerned, walked around it and came out very quickly. On a sheet of paper, this fiery bite marks the places. His goal: to help his colleagues to determine where the smoke and fire are spreading by giving substance to the volumes. He has twenty minutes to deliver a first sketch.
At the same time, Master Corporal Alexandre Collin is piloting one of the BSPP drones. A loudspeaker attached to the device signals its presence. It provides an overview of the disaster and helps the commander to “size” it and assess the risks of propagation. “It also makes it possible to send messages and, for example, to warn victims stuck on the site of the arrival of firefighters and ask them to wait. It can prevent people from jumping into the void, ”says the remote pilot. In experimentation for two years, this drone has been part of the emergency equipment since September. The exercise ends with the cutting of real windows, and the firefighters turn into gentlemen burglars …
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