Overloaded multiple sockets, improvised DIY, children leaning on the balcony at 8 pm: firefighters fear more than ever domestic accidents linked to confinement at a time when the invisible enemy of the coronavirus complicates each intervention and creates "permanent stress".
"The activity is decreasing, especially in road accidents, but the interventions have nothing to do with usual [...] and the firefighters are today worried permanently," said AFP Eric Brocardi , spokesperson for the National Federation of Firefighters of France.
“Usually, if we go to a sprained ankle or knee, we know that we are going to put an ice pack, put a splint and take the victim to the emergency room. There, we must investigate the victim, put all our protection necessary, "details this captain from Nice. "When we come back, the stress is there, we wonder if we got something and we don't sleep well at night," he says.
Black series in Vendée because of DIY and gardening
If they remain insignificant according to the Departmental Fire and Rescue Services (SDIS) interviewed by AFP, some domestic accidents have occurred related to the obligation to stay at home.
Three days after the start of confinement, the Vendée firefighters reported a black series essentially linked to DIY or gardening, fine weather means: "falling from the roof or ladder, injuries caused by chainsaws, mowers, hedge trimmers ... "
"The care of the victims of these accidents contributes to the increase in the activity of center 15 (medical regulation) and to an increase in the number of people admitted to the emergency room while the containment measures aim to limit regroupings", warned SDIS 85 on Facebook.
Other departments, such as the Drôme, have prohibited scorching and burning of green waste to limit the risk of fire starting. The number one problem, continues Mr. Brocardi, is "the electrical overload linked to the use of telephones or portable devices".
"At 8 p.m. everyone leans over to look at the neighbors ..."
In Nice, the firefighters intervened the past week for a start of fire caused by an overloaded electrical power strip, placed on a terrace. "We had people who moved into second homes where they had lit the chimney without cleaning the flue," increasing the risk of fire, reports Mr. Brocardi.
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"When the television and the radio are on for 10 hours a day, it is no longer the same use of the home on a daily basis," he explains, emphasizing prevention measures. "1) no telephone in wet rooms 2) avoid overloading everything at the same time 3) avoid multiple sockets which are not European standards, with the real logo".
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"Defenestrations can also happen [...] because every night, we put ourselves at the window at 8 pm, everyone leans over to look at the neighbors: we must not leave the children alone," he said.
Another point, "it is not because the DIY stores are closed that we must use equipment that is not necessarily suitable: we run the risk of hurting ourselves, creating a short-circuit or electrocuting ourselves".
If the public follows these instructions, firefighters can "focus on helping people at risk of infection", which comes under intense pressure with the health crisis.
