On Saturday 12 January at around 8.40 am, the Brigade’s emergency services were called out following reports of a smell of gas on the upper floors of a residential block at 6 Rue de Trévise in Paris’s 9th arrondissement. About 10 minutes after they arrived on the scene, a very violent explosion occurred, followed by a fire.
Two Paris firefighters, Senior Corporal Simon CARTANNAZ and First Class Firefighter Nathanaël JOSSELIN, were seriously injured. They were evacuated whilst in cardiac arrest and, despite the rapid medical attention they received, they sadly did not survive their injuries.
The third firefighter is out of danger
Private First Class Maxime Acard, aged 21, who was buried under the rubble, was rescued after two hours and taken in a serious condition to the Percy military hospital in Clamart. His life is no longer in danger.
On Sunday, he was visited by the Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, GeneralJean-Claude Gallet, and the mayor of his town, Caudebec-en-Caux, Bastien Coriton, who had come to convey the support of the local community, according to reports from our colleagues at Paris Normandy.
“Thank you to my brothers-in-arms who pulled me out of the rubble”
According to the same source, Maxime Acard joined the Caudebec-en-Caux fire station on 1 November 2013, quickly demonstrating exceptional personal and sporting qualities and a constant eagerness to undertake further training. Honoured at the Sainte-Barbe celebrations in Caudebec-en-Caux on 2 December 2017 for his induction into the prestigious Paris Fire Brigade, he told *Paris-Normandie* of his pride at fulfilling his childhood dream.
Although he had sustained injuries to one knee and both feet, as well as numerous bruises, he posted a message on social media on Sunday evening: "Thank you to my brothers-in-arms who pulled me out of the rubble, to all my friends, to my family, and to all the strangers who are supporting me. My thoughts are very much with my two colleagues who died and their loved ones; I held them in very high regard.".