Firefighter, 16, killed on call-out
Schoolboy volunteer and full-time colleague die as they are caught in blast in house
TWO firefighters - including one 16-year-old schoolboy volunteer on his first call-out - have been killed while fighting a chimney fire in Digne-les-Bains in the south of France.
Police have started an inquiry to find out what caused their deaths and if the young trainee, lycee schoolboy Yann Simeoni, should have been there at all.
Yann and 35-year-old full-time firefighter Sergeant Michael Baghioni died in a blast of flame which engulfed them both as they fought a fire in a wood-burning stove.
Other members of the firefighting crew dragged them out of the house but could not rescuscitate them.
Fire department deputy head Thierry Carret said fire investigators were investigating what caused the blast of flame, but it was not clear if it was the much-feared "flameover" when superhot gases from the fire suddenly explode.
He said Yann had completed three years of training as a volunteer firefighter last spring and had just been taken on to the active roster.
The Alpes-de-Haute-Provence town is in mourning with flags at half-mast over the mairie and the fire station. This is the third incident in which firefighters have been killed on duty in the department in the past three years.
In 2010 a volunteer firefighter was overcome by carbon monoxide gas in a cellar in Oraison and in 2011 two volunteers were electrocuted at Annot.
The Alpes-de Haute-Provence Service Departemental d'Incendie et de Secours is made up of 66 full-time firefighters and 1,450 volunteers.
Photo: Frederic Prochasson - Fotolia.com
