This Thursday, families who had a funeral tribute scheduled at the crematorium of the Père Lachaise cemetery (XXth) had to improvise a ceremony elsewhere or postpone it. The day before, at noon, a fire broke out in the basement of a technical room of the establishment.
The smoke spread through the building as a cremation ceremony gathered a hundred people gathered in the beautiful room with neo-Byzantine architecture, under the Dome. The ceremony was stopped altogether and the assembly had to be evacuated "for safety", the city continues.
See alsoGreen walk at Père-Lachaise, kingdom of foxes and stars
An unexpected event, which turned the programs of the bereaved families upside down. "We were informed Wednesday evening of the cancellation of the ceremony," said Aurélien, who was to say goodbye to his uncle on Thursday. It fell on us! At the time, my aunt, the widow, was devastated. What to do? How to warn everyone? ", continues the Parisian quadra, who had to find family, some of whose members came from far away.
Families sent back to other sites
Wednesday, it took about fifty firefighters equipped with two hoses to contain the disaster. The operation lasted five hours. The national police erected a security perimeter and a municipal crew regulated traffic in and out of the cemetery while emergency services intervened.
According to initial investigations, the fire was not of criminal origin, but accidental. "The precise causes of this fire are still to be identified," says the City, cautiously. The material damage is the subject of an observation, "in progress" according to the municipality.
Funeral homes were informed of the incident in order to make their arrangements and other crematoriums in the inner suburbs were involved pending a return to normal.
"We were lucky to have a contact who found us the same day an American church, on the other side of Paris, rue d'Aguesseau (VIIIth), near the U.S. Embassy," says Aurélien. It was special, he euphemistically said. The priest who welcomed us did not speak a word of French. At the same time, what do you want to do about a fire at the crematorium? »