The Criminal Court of Béziers (Hérault) on Wednesday sentenced a 69-year-old man to two years in prison, including eighteen months suspended, with the obligation to compensate the victims, and to a fine of 1,000 euros, for having started a fire in Marseillan.
The firm part, six months, was arranged in the form of house arrest, with an electronic bracelet.
The sexagenarian had never been convicted until now.
Poorly controlled burning
On February 21, the firefighters had been confronted with a fire, during which two of them had been slightly injured by the explosion of a gas cylinder.
About one hectare had been destroyed, as well as two houses, two sheds, five cars, two motorcycles, a caravan, a backhoe loader, a mobile home, two trailers and a boat.
The investigations carried out by the gendarmes had made it possible to identify that the start of the fire had been caused by badly controlled burning and propagated by a strong wind.
The sexagenarian, placed in police custody, had recognized the facts, expressing his regrets.
Domiciled in Haute-Garonne, he had come to maintain the land he owns, indicated the prosecution.
He had lit the fire in iron barrels in order to burn branches, then he had gone to lunch in his mobile home, thinking that the fire was extinguished.
Noting that a fire had started, he had tried to put it out with the help of neighbors, before the firefighters took over.
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Justice
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Beziers
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Languedoc Roussillon