Dramatic evening in this listed castle.
A 97-year-old man died on Wednesday March 13 in a fire at the Château de Chantambre, in Buno-Bonnevaux, south of Essonne.
Another victim, more slightly intoxicated, was treated by emergency services.
It was around 10:30 p.m. that the alert was given.
Many firefighters from 91 converged on this historic building nestled in the forests of Gâtinais, from which smoke rose.
When emergency services arrived, they noticed a bedroom fire upstairs.
The lances were deployed.
A first victim, a woman in her fifties, was treated for slight smoke poisoning.
Then, during reconnaissance inside the burning room, an inanimate man was found and extracted by firefighters.
Works of art saved
Despite resuscitation attempts, the 97-year-old man was declared dead by a doctor at Smur Étampes.
It is unknown at this stage whether this is the owner of the premises.
The first victim was hospitalized in a relative emergency during the night.
Read alsoMorsang-sur-Orge: an outbuilding of the castle catches fire during Christmas night
In total, around fifty firefighters, in conjunction with the gendarmerie and the Buno-Bonnevaux town hall, spent the night on site.
The maneuvers continued until Thursday morning.
Indeed, a property safeguarding operation has been set up to preserve part of the works housed in the building, the ground floor of which alone is more than 400 m2.
Seven paintings and a statue were thus able to be sheltered.
However, a large part of the roof was destroyed.
Built at the beginning of the 17th century, the Château de Chantambre had recently been renovated.
According to the Buno-Bonnevaux town hall website, the famous French tennis player René Lacoste was one of the owners.