Scandal in France: while firefighters were saving luxury villas, an entire commune burned down

Residents of the burnt-out commune of Le Porge in the Gironde department in France are preparing to file a lawsuit against the authorities. This is reported by the publication Le Parisien.

It is reported that the flames destroyed 183 of 240 houses in Le Porge, leaving over 3.6 thousand residents without housing and property. At the same time, residents of the commune believe that the authorities sacrificed their houses to protect luxury villas in the neighborhood.

"I think they wanted to save houses worth millions of euros, not houses for 500 thousand euros," said one of the local residents.

Eyewitnesses claim that the fire forces were sent primarily to Lacanau and Cap-Ferre, areas where prestigious houses and country residences of wealthy Frenchmen are located. At the moment when the flames were coming very close to the houses, there were no fire trucks. At the moment, about 700 people have already joined forces to file a class action lawsuit against the authorities. The lawyer they hired explains that people feel literally "sacrificed" for the sake of saving the more elite neighborhoods located next door.

"Very painstaking and serious work is underway to organize and collect evidence, testimony and statements. I have been instructed to consider filing a criminal complaint, and the goal is to get concrete answers to the situation: how could everything have happened, how could such a situation have arisen," the lawyer noted.

In turn, local officials, commenting on the situation, stated the need to focus on extinguishing the fire, and not on finding the culprits.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the most difficult situation in the country since the Second World War due to raging forest fires. In the Gironde department, the fire has already destroyed an area four times the size of Paris and forced 220 thousand people to evacuate.