A volunteer firefighter was sentenced on Tuesday February 6 to one year of probation by the Perpignan judicial court for having started a fire, in the field of a town near Perpignan, in 2023.
“I wanted to understand what an arsonist felt
,” the 53-year-old man said on the stand.
Sentenced to one year of probation, including the obligation to provide care and compensate the civil parties, for
“destruction of property using dangerous equipment”
, the man had, in May 2023, attempted to set fire to a field in the commune of Montner, near Perpignan, while the department of Pyrénées-Orientales was placed at risk of severe fire.
He threw a flaming paper from his vehicle
The volunteer firefighter and employee at the water board of the urban community of Perpignan-Mediterranean at the time of the events, was surprised by a passer-by, while he was throwing a flaming paper from his vehicle.
The witness then brought the fire under control and saw the colors of the Perpignan-Médirannée urban community on the suspect's vehicle, before he fled.
Quickly arrested, the man resigned from his position when he was taken into police custody.
The court also ordered the former firefighter to pay 1,000 euros to SDIS 66 (Departmental Fire and Rescue Service of the Pyrénées-Orientales) for the damage suffered and a symbolic euro to the urban community where he worked.