The Marine Firefighters of Marseilles – N°3 : fire and water | Le Bataillon des Marins Pompiers de Marseille | RMC Découverte

“We don’t know if it’s an emergency until we get there…”

The firefighters of the Saint Pierre firehouse, one of the busiest in Marseille, are called to a fire in an apartment in a block of several floors… If the residents are still inside their chances of survival are minute. In a fire, the flames can reach a temperature of 600° within around 5 minutes.

The fire is on the ground floor and threatens the lives of all the residents… Because 80% of deaths in a fire are due to toxic fumes. It’s a tough job… in the middle of August some residents are either at work or away. The renter of the apartment on fire owes her life to the heroism of a neighbor.

In the height of summer, it’s quite common for the Mistral to hurl pleasure-boaters onto the razor-sharp rocks of the calanques. The “Bonne Mere” lifeboat, ready for action around the clock, sets out on an emergency call from a boat with a broken down engine. The situation is serious… a pleasure boat and its passengers are drifting towards the jagged rocks of the calanques. To make things worse… the Mistral is forecast to blow.

A fire is reported in a villa in the middle of the night. The firefighters get there fast and easily overcome the fire… But, behind the remnants of a fire, other firetraps explode without warning… the victims are all discovered, lifeless, in enclosed spaces. In the beams of their torches, the firefighters seek any sign of human life.

Some nights, the firefighter teams wonder if they will make it through.