To show their anger and concern, the Cholet fire brigade turned their backs on local councillors on 1 December, during the traditional Sainte-Barbe celebrations. The video, posted online, went viral. It racked up more than 320,000 views in just a few hours on Emergency Information.
Two months on, the town’s mayor has clearly still not come to terms with the situation, to the extent that he is said to have gone so far as to take measures to punish them.
The ceremony was halted in a fit of anger
According to our information, confirmed by our colleagues at Ouest-France, the staff members in question no longer have any training slots at the GlisséO aquatic centre or at the multi-sports stadium.
Although their action was directed at the head of the departmental fire and rescue service, Patrice Brault, (a departmental councillor, also elected as part of the Cholet municipal majority), the mayor of Cholet, Gilles Bourdouleix, did not take the joke well: his anger brought the ceremony, which had only just begun, to a halt.