A fire devastated Thursday afternoon the roof of the town hall of Annecy, a sinister declared at lunch time and which resulted in the evacuation of the building and a nearby school, without doing any injury.

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A fire broke out Thursday noon at the town hall of Annecy. The roof of the building caught fire and resulted in evacuations without injury. A nearby school was also evacuated.

According to preliminary evidence from firefighters, the fire started "in an electrical cabinet on the third floor" of this four-storey building. The fire spread, gaining the upper floor then the attic, from where flames were visible. According to the prefecture, the origin would be "accidental", a "confirmed" thesis for the mayor Jean-Luc Rigaut (UDI): "agents who worked next saw the short circuit and the cabinet to start to smoke, "he told AFP.

Important fire at the town hall of Annecy (74), flames escape from the roof. Firefighter intervention in progress. pic.twitter.com/mHqDr3nr5D

- Matthieu Desmoulins (@MatthDes) November 14, 2019

Eighty firefighters mobilized

The alarm sounded at "lunch time", so "about 150 people" were in the offices. All occupants were safe outside, said city director general Dominique Huot de Saint-Albin. A neighboring school and nursery were closed and 350 children transferred to another school, also indicated the Haute-Savoie prefecture, which did not deplore any injuries in this fire.

A total of 90 firefighters, 6 firefighting equipment and 4 large ladders are engaged, pending the arrival of an elevator arm of Geneva and 2 machines of Savoie and Ain. An investigation will be conducted by the urban safety brigade of the Annecy police station, as soon as the fire is under control.

Fire in the town hall # ANNECY, I think I live a very sad moment in history of our city. pic.twitter.com/XkM4jVfNMD

- Stéphane CURIOZ (@Stephane_CURIOZ) November 14, 2019

"The roof is destroyed to 90%, firefighters try to preserve the first two floors where are the protocol rooms" and the office of the mayor, said the prefecture. "Dismayed" in front of the disaster that damages this building of the years 1850 - built from the time when Savoy belonged to the Italian Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia -, the mayor lamented the decommissioning of the center of video surveillance and remote control of the pedestrian zone, located on the 3rd floor.

Traffic was prohibited in part of the city center and the school bus disrupted throughout the Annecy basin, with bus delays to predict, warned the prefecture.