On Wednesday July 27, a 37-year-old volunteer firefighter was arrested in Hérault for having started eight fires in the department since May. On August 2, a young volunteer firefighter from Tarn was indicted, also for voluntary fire starts. Among the 250,000 firefighters in France, arsonists are rare, but these cases raise questions about the methods of recruitment and monitoring of firefighters.
Several tests and interviews during recruitment
Professional civilian firefighters, volunteer firefighters – who represent 79% of the total workforce – and finally the military, within the Paris firefighters brigade and the Marseille firefighters battalion, all are subject to working conditions. physical and medical fitness, before having their criminal records checked.
Jean-Philippe Ladet, head of the human resources group within the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (Sdis) of the Ardèche, oversees the recruitment and training of more than 200 firefighters in the department every year, mostly volunteers. “Each candidate is subject to a one-hour medical examination, carried out by a nurse and a doctor from the fire brigadehe explains. The nurse first studies the results of the swimming, endurance and cladding tests. Then, the doctor seeks to identify the motivations and the psychological profile during an individual interview, in addition to psychomotor tests and an evaluation of vision and hearing. »
In case of doubt, this doctor can refer the candidate to a psychiatrist for an additional examination before deciding on his medical fitness.
A difficult prevention
«Pyromania is a behavioral addiction that is difficult to graspadds Gérard Millet, chief medical officer of the Drôme and Ardèche firefighters. In the recruitment interview, we pay attention to a history of depression, which is not disqualifying if the person is stabilized, and we open up the discussion on the subject of addictions. »
Follow-up medical visits, including a psychological component, are then organized every two years for firefighters under the age of 38, then every year after that age. The hierarchy can, moreover, impose a health examination at any time in case of doubt about the behavior of a firefighter.
For Dr. Millet, the key to prevention also lies in monitoring the mental health of firefighters, through medico-psychological support following traumatic interventions. This is the objective of the medico-psychological support unit implemented in Drôme and Ardèche, a unique system in France to listen to and support firefighters 24 hours a day.
Rare and sanctioned facts
If acts of arson are detected, the Sdis have a duty to denounce their perpetrators to the public prosecutor, in accordance with article 40 of the code of criminal procedure. The exclusion is thus motivated medically or following a disciplinary council, based on proven facts.
Gérard Millet would like to point out, however, that among the 6,000 firefighters in the two departments, he has identified two arsonists in recent years, namely “a needle in a haystack”. «There may be sick people in our ranks as in any sector of society, abounds the communication manager of a firefighter training school, who wishes to remain anonymous. We love to fight fire, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to start fires on purpose. »
