As they are used to, it is around 7 p.m. that Vanessa and Hubert H., both PAF (border police) policemen from Orly, sit down to dinner on Sunday evening with their five children, on the ground floor. - garden of their pavilion in Athis-Mons (Essonne).
The family is quietly having dinner when a loud shocking noise, which seems to come from the upper floor, is heard.
“We immediately thought our kitten had spilled something,” Vanessa says.
The oldest of the children, aged twelve, decides to go and see.
As he opens the door to the ground floor, where the living room is located, the boy panics.
“It smells of hot!
He says, panicked.
The parents rush upstairs.
“Smoke was coming from the attic, on the first floor, where the children's rooms are,” says the 38-year-old mother.
Hubert, 47, rushes up the stairs and opens the door.
"The smoke was so dense that he could not enter the room," says the thirty-something.
On the phone, firefighters urge the family to leave the scene as soon as possible.
The children, in their pajamas, do not have time to change.
“The flames were so violent that the skylights burst.
In fifteen minutes, the fire had already spread to the ground floor, ”breathes Vanessa.
“We are miraculous.
If the fire had caught during the night, there would surely have been a tragedy, ”she adds, gasping.
The children "claim us"
Of the house, all that remains today is a blackened carcass of stone and concrete.
The youngest, eleven years old, collapsed upon discovering this sad sight.
“For children, the backlash is brutal.
In addition to the shock, they begin to realize that they will never see their toys again, nor even their school things, ”says Vanessa.
The older one, who is educated in a flexible musical class, did not manage to put his trumpet away.
What remains of the H. house in Athis-Mons./DR
In the disaster, the family lost everything: valuables, furniture and appliances, but above all the memories of a lifetime.
"Soot, moss and water damaged anything that could be left in the basement," sighs Vanessa.
Without counting the destruction of all the administrative documents, of the act of purchase of their house and even… of the keys of the cars, forgotten in the entry in the haste.
Vanessa and Hubert are now staying with neighbors.
The five children are taken care of by Sister d'Hubert, in Lieusaint, about thirty kilometers from Athis-Mons.
For them, the backlash is brutal.
“They ask a lot of us, especially the little ones,” says Vanessa.
A lease "next week"
"The H. family should sign a lease next week with a social landlord for housing near the school and the children's college," said the socialist mayor of Athis-Mons, Jean-Jacques Grousseau.
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On the evening of the disaster, the city launched an appeal for solidarity on social networks.
With success.
“On Tuesday, we were forced to say: stop, we have too many donations!
», Welcomes the councilor.
Another call for donations has been launched by the Athis Mons rugby club, where the whole family is registered.
The school and the children's college have for their part committed to remaking the satchels and notebooks.
Finally, Vanessa and Hubert's colleagues launched a Leetchi fund.
"At times like this, it's heartwarming", greets Vanessa, overwhelmed by this outpouring of solidarity.