A firefighter from Grimp de Dordogne died during an exercise

A tragic accident occurred on the morning of Tuesday, June 3, in Bergerac town center. Firefighters from the Grimp (hazardous environment intervention group) were at Place de la République conducting an exercise in an underground parking lot when a 52-year-old firefighter fell about ten meters through the open gates, Dordogne prefect Marie Aubert said in a statement. This incident occurred during the debriefing of the exercise, while he was in charge of the intervention. "His colleagues present at the scene immediately provided first aid. The Smur and other firefighters quickly intervened to try to revive him, in vain."

An ongoing investigation

An investigation is underway to determine the precise circumstances of this tragic accident. A security perimeter has been set up around the République car park, and police forces are continuing their investigations. "This sudden and terrible tragedy has deeply affected all the women and men of our Corps," the Sdis 24 also stated in a Facebook post. "He leaves behind the memory of a dedicated firefighter who carried out his job with passion and dedication." He was married and the father of a 16-year-old boy, as the prefecture pointed out. He had also been awarded the Internal Security Medal, with the "Firefighters" clasp, silver level, last October. He had been a chief warrant officer at the Bergerac fire station since October 2022, and deputy technical advisor to the Grimp since 2014.

The general controller of the Sdis, Alain Rivière, went to the scene on Tuesday afternoon, while three psychologists were called to the Bergerac fire station. The president of the departmental council, Germinal Peiro, who is also president of the Sdis, said in a press release: "This terrible tragedy, which occurred during an exercise, has brought grief to the entire Dordogne Departmental Fire Brigade, to whom I would like to express my complete solidarity." On his social media, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, offered "his full support and compassion to his wife and son," as well as to "all the Dordogne firefighters." "The Civil Security community is today in mourning over this tragedy. I stand with them."