Toulouse (AFP)
A 20-year-old man, suspected of being the author, between the months of May and August, 12 fires in the Pyrenees-Orientales, was indicted Friday in Perpignan and imprisoned, announced Saturday the national gendarmerie.
The young man was arrested Wednesday at his home where a search was conducted.
It revealed flammable products and a spray that contained hydrocarbons, says the national police in a statement.
The young man acknowledged his involvement in the 12 volunteer fires started between May 31 and August 14 in the areas of Torreilles and Sainte-Marie-la-Mer, two coastal towns northeast of Perpignan.
It is the recrudescence, since July 2019, of fire starts of these two communes which attracted the attention of the gendarmes.
The last and most important incident in the series had ravaged 20 hectares of vegetation and destroyed a caravan and nursery stock. A hundred firefighters had been mobilized to extinguish the flames.
The investigations identified the alleged firefighter, a two-wheeler whose presence near the last two fires had been reported by firefighters.
According to the Gendarmerie, for the summer period alone, this year, 133 investigations were opened and entrusted to the gendarmerie for voluntary and involuntary fires.
© 2019 AFP