Every Feria evening from 18.00 to At 06.00, almost a hundred firefighters take turns to treat the injured. According to Commander Vignesoule, there are around 45 interventions per year. evening.
“For Feria we have the largest barracks in France”explains Commander Sébastien Vignesoule, head of the Bézier security centre. It is on the Place du Général de Gaulle, at the Paul-Riquet college, that the firefighters have set up camp for these five days of Feria.
In total, between 80 and 100 volunteer and professional firefighters are on site every night. Aged 16 to 65 and coming from all over the Hérault, they are in place every evening in the Feria from
“Alcohol, drugs, falls, injuries…”
“Everything accelerates when the shows end. From midnight to 3 a.m., it’s the most intense period of the evening.”says the commanding officer, who with all the firefighters mobilized must be able to cope with the worst. “Every night we have about forty interventions. Most of the time it is excessive consumption of alcohol or drugs. We also have falls, sometimes due to fights and crowds, enough staff and space to act if necessary. There are for example, always risk of an attack.
“A real logistics chain”
According to the commander-in-chief in office for three years, the number of interventions has increased slightly since previous years. However, he clarifies that Feria has remained safer in recent years thanks to several operations. “The Feria area has been reduced. We are also in constant communication with the police and other emergency services.”develops the officer and observes the different parts of the place.
“To welcome the patients, we have the medical section at the entrance to the college, so that they are taken care of as quickly as possible. There is also a sober tent and all the medical and pharmaceutical equipment that is stored we have the command post We receive all calls and all information there. It is a real logistics chain.
During the Feria, this unique unit is added to the traditional fire guards. Excluding party zones, 25 firefighters are permanently present in the rest of Béziers.
Despite increasingly large crowds, and especially during these first Feria nights, the interventions are going relatively well. “We get a good reception from the partygoers. When we arrive, people move aside and make room. In the bodegas, the DJs turn down the volume. And we have all the vehicles available to intervene quickly.”
Simple actions to adopt
If visitors seem more and more aware of the risks associated with the festival, the dangers remain daily for the Hérault firefighters mobilized during the Feria. Commander Vignesoule once again provides several actions to take in the event of an emergency. “The first thing is of course to have a sensible consumption of alcohol. You also have to know that the danger is inside and outside the Feria zones. So don’t hesitate to blow into the breathalyzer distributed by the municipal police at the convention center and de Arena otherwise, do not hesitate to call us and notify the emergency services, when you see a person in danger, finally redirect to us so that we can work in the best conditions.”