Eleven dead and two floors up in smoke. Investigations into the causes of the fire in Wintzenheim in eastern France revealed on Thursday that the holiday accommodation for people with disabilities did not meet the standard.
• Also read: France: 11 dead in fire at shelter for disabled people
The building destroyed by the fire was an old barn of 500 m2 on two floors and an attic that had been renovated a few years ago.
But according to the first findings of the investigation, the structure does not meet the standard, said the deputy prosecutor of the Republic of Colmar, Nathalie Kielwasser.
“The accommodation had not gone through the mandatory clearance of the safety commission. If you want to drive a car, you need a driver’s license, if you want to accommodate people, you need to pass this commission, which will give you recommendations on accommodation capacity, etc. We will impose a number of safety rules on you,” the magistrate explained.
Therefore, while the house did have smoke detectors, they were not of the type intended for buildings open to the public.
The owner of the hut, who alerted the fire brigade at dawn on Wednesday, is in shock and was not taken into custody.
“An investigation will bring light into the darkness,” promised French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, who was there on Wednesday afternoon.
“Everyone was asleep”
“A general conflagration”. Firefighters, who arrived in less than fifteen minutes, could do nothing to help holidaymakers settle on the building’s floors.
The residents were “surprised while they were fully asleep, everyone was asleep,” observed the deputy mayor of the city of 8,000 on the outskirts of the tourist town of Colmar, Daniel Leroy.
Lt. Col. Philippe Hauwiller, commander of the rescue operation, estimated that given the condition of the building, the victims were already dead when firefighters arrived at a place called La Forge at 06:45 (04:45 GMT) on Wednesday.
In such a disaster, victims would fall victim to toxic gases, he noted.
A total of 28 people were in the building, 17 of whom were able to get out in time, according to the Haut-Rhin prefecture, the department where Wintzenheim is located. The 13 residents accommodated on the ground floor were able to be returned to their homes unharmed.
On the other hand, among the residents housed on the floors, 11 people died, including 10 adults with mild intellectual disabilities. Several of them slept in a mezzanine that collapsed, making it difficult to recover the bodies, according to Lieutenant Colonel Hauwiller.
“The lodge had the right to accommodate 28 people,” Ms Kielwasser told BFMTV when the question of a possible over-gauge was raised on Wednesday.
DNA analyses
One survivor was “awakened” by the fire and managed to jump from the first floor and was “caught by a resident on the ground floor who had already come out,” Denis Renaud, President of AEIM, told people intellectual disability supports disabilities.
Five members of this association had registered individually for this trip. Only one survived.
She was “extremely shocked on Wednesday and cried part of the day,” he said, but “she recovered afterwards” and “showed tremendous resilience.”
Ms Kielwasser said on Wednesday that “the origin at the moment is probably a smoldering fire” without it being possible “at this point in time” to determine “the causes of this smoldering fire”.
The cottage, which sits on a gated lot with several buildings, “has been in good working order for several years,” said Deputy Mayor Daniel Leroy.
On Thursday morning, calm had returned around the gutted building. A mobile laboratory was used to identify victims. It allows for rapid DNA analysis, with results available within two to three days.
The disaster is the deadliest in France since the fire at a bar in the city of Rouen (north) in 2016 that killed 14 people.