According to our sources, Prefect Jacques Witkowski, Director of Civil Protection and Crisis Management at the Ministry of the Interior, is to be succeeded by Alain Thirion, currently Prefect of the Aude department.
Jacques Witkowski will then become Prefect of the Hérault, replacing Pierre Pouessel, who has been appointed Prefect of the Loiret.
Who is Alain Thirion?
Prefect of Haute-Corse before moving to the Aude, Alain Thirion, aged 56, began his career in the civil service in the late 1980s, working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Paris Police Prefecture, before becoming Director of Transport and Public Safety from 2010 to 2015.
As head of civil protection and crisis management, a department within the Ministry of the Interior, Alain Thirion will be in charge of a number of departments: the Sub-Directorate for International Affairs, Resources and Strategy; the General Inspectorate of Civil Protection; the Fire Service Directorate; and the Crisis Planning and Management Service.
Alain Thirion had his fair share of crises last year, representing the State in a department affected in March 2018 by the attacks in Trèbes and Carcassonne, and then on 15 October by the deadly floods.