Gers: Rejected as a firefighter, he started 21 fires!

JUSTICE.  Between 19 June and 30 August this year, several fires of suspicious origin broke out in the Gers, in Lavardens, Montestruc, Fleurance, Préchac and Réjaumont. In almost every case, these were stubble and scrub fires, but on some occasions the flames destroyed stockpiles of straw bales and a lorry. Eight cases of arson resulted in losses totalling €22,000. Survey  The gendarmes in Vic-Fezensac were put in charge of the investigation, which has just borne fruit: a suspect, living within a short distance of where the fires started, has been identified: he was first identified by the criminal identification unit, N’Tech (the gendarmerie’s cyber investigators) and the Auch Criminal Investigation Brigade. The 37-year-old suspected arsonist was arrested on Sunday morning at his home and taken into police custody. He was dialling 18! His modus operandi hardly ever varied: he would drive along quiet, little-used country roads before stopping and setting fire to dry grass with a lighter. A perfectionist, the arsonist would return to check that the fire had taken hold and would often call the fire brigade himself, dialling 18!  He confessed to having started the eight fires that summer, but voluntarily admitted to being responsible for 12 other fires since 2015.  Intoxication Whilst in police custody, he explained that he had deliberately started 21 fires on impulse, whilst heavily intoxicated. According to him, his pyromania is linked to his frustration at never having been able to join the fire service, a dream he has had since he was a child. His applications to join an SDIS 32 fire station as a volunteer firefighter were all rejected... The man, who is in his thirties, was released on bail on Monday, pending his trial at the Auch Criminal Court, the date of which has not yet been set.