More than 300 firefighters intervened on the night of February 4 to 5, 2019 rue Erlanger while the building at 17 bis was on fire. The configuration of the premises had prevented the intervention.
“We had to deal with an extraordinary, exceptional intervention, an intervention that only happens once in a career. The disaster was extremely violent. There were people everywhere at the windows, that never happens Never.” It is 1:14 a.m. when Lieutenant-Colonel Guesdon arrives at 17 bis rue Erlanger, in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. It’s been 33 minutes that dozens of Paris firefighters have been fighting the fire that started on the 2nd floor, a fire that one of the residents, Essia B., admitted to having started.
“When I arrived in this street, it was amazing because nothing was happening, it was calm, very calm. I went to the address, the second commander of the rescue operations was pale”, remembers this officer who has 30 years of career behind him.
“There is nothing visible in this street, no smoke, no fire”, abounds Chief Warrant Officer Jérôme, chief guard of the Auteuil rescue center at the time. The fireman interrupts, visibly moved: “I didn’t expect what I was going to see.”
“Insane Risks”
The 312 firefighters mobilized, including a hundred to take care of the victims, are facing a disaster scenario. “In front of me, I have a building where opaque black smoke is present on the entire facade from the 2nd floor, remembers the chief warrant officer. People are shouting, a lot of shouting.”
To reach 17 bis rue Erlanger, the firefighters take a narrow corridor of 18 meters. “We had to get everything through there, the victims, the ladders, the water lances, it was exceptional, exceptional, I’ve never experienced that,” explains Lieutenant-Colonel Guesdon. “The main difficulty is the access route,” he summarizes.
“We were in an operational impossibility,” he continues.
Impossible to approach the vehicles, and therefore the large ladders, used “ideally”, to reach the building at the bottom of a courtyard and the inhabitants. Beyond the 4th floor, firefighters must use “a ladder in degraded mode, an archaic tool for some”, according to Lieutenant-Colonel Guesdon, ladders with hooks. “The men went from floor to floor to save people, continues the officer. The hooks make it possible to hang on to the railings. Otherwise there are spikes to hold on the parapet, people had to hold these hooks to prevent firefighters from falling.”
“We took insane risks, argues Lieutenant-Colonel Guesdon. They are heroes.”
Many residents took refuge on the roof of the building. “All it takes is a hook to slip and that’s the fall, adds Chief Warrant Officer Jérôme. We are experienced in using these ladders, but we ask people to descend on these ladders. The risk was even greater.” In the dock, Essia B. is in tears.
“Wall of Flames”
For the firefighters, it was also impossible to go through the interior of the building to rescue the inhabitants, trapped by these flames which surprised them in full sleep. “No way was possible. The blaze was so intense, it was impossible to pass inside. We could not act safely, this building, I consider it a mousetrap, a trap”, insists the lieutenant- Colonel Guesdon.
“When I enter the building to realize what is happening inside, on the second floor, the teams are fighting these flames. We are blocked. A wall of flames is preventing us from progressing”, breathes the warrant officer. Jerome.
The soldiers are struggling to move forward: “It’s the first time that I have seen colleagues directing the water lance at other colleagues, it was too hot, too unbearable”, recalls Aurélien. He is one of the first firefighters to intervene on this fire.
The fire, the deadliest in the capital since 2005, surprised these soldiers, even the most experienced. “I have a fire on the second, I have a fire on the fourth and a fire on the sixth and in communications, continues the firefighter with a 23-year career. All communications, the staircase, several apartments, on several floors, at different distances from the stairs that are in flames. It’s impressive and I can’t explain this fire.”
“Worst fire of my life”
Ten people died in the disaster, mainly on the upper floors. Three jumped out. “I saw a lot of people grabbing us, shouting fire, a lot. There were a lot of people hanging from the ledges, I saw a person jump, there were flames everywhere”, breathes in turn Aurélien.
“I took out a person who showed up with the flash of his phone, I was holding the spear in my hands, there were a lot of flames”, continues the young man, who has since abandoned the profession. “In the same corridor, I directed two other people who came forward, they came down. I saw two colleagues climb a ladder to save a person on the 3rd floor, this person threw himself.”
“It’s the worst fire of my life. A firefighter, his goal is to try to save everyone,” concedes Lieutenant-Colonel Guesdon.
After this fire, a psychological follow-up was imposed on all the firefighters of Paris who intervened rue Erlanger.
