An aeronautics factory targeted by arson in Ardèche
France3/Le Dauphiné/France Bleu, March 27, 2023 (excerpts)
Around 5 a.m. this Monday, March 27, 2023, two fires broke out in the industrial building of the Fregate Aero company in Beauchastel in Ardèche, which specializes in the manufacture of aeronautical parts for the civilian and military sectors [Dassault, Airbus Helicopters and Safran groups]. Thick smoke spread over 1,000 square meters in the 6,000 square meter warehouse. Fifteen people were evacuated early this morning. 120 people work on the site, some of whom are cleaning up the damage at midday. Some of the company’s employees are out of work today.
Sixteen firemen were mobilized until 8 am. Quickly, the criminal hypothesis was confirmed, with the presence of two locations the fire was started. A ventilation grille, located at the back of the building, was forced open and a compressor was destroyed by the flames. In addition, a tag, written on the site in red spray paint and in capital letters, reads: “Behind the war, ordinary factories”.
“This is a criminal act, our company was indeed targeted. This is the first time we have been targeted in this way,” confided the management of the Frégate Aero group to the Dauphiné Libéré on Monday morning. The family-owned group employs 250 people in the Rhone Valley and 500 people throughout France. Its headquarters is based in the nearby town of La Voulte-sur-Rhône. The management added: “Attacking people’s work is deplorable! There is a significant layer of soot that has settled in the building. Fortunately, the fire department and police were able to intervene quickly. The flames did not spread to the entire production site.
Also contacted by France Bleu Drôme Ardèche, Frédéric Guimbal, the boss of Frégate Aéro, explains: “It was a rather violent political tag that was written on the walls, I think it is not directed against us but against the company. We are a company that works for fighter jets, so I think it is this sector that has been affected. What would cause people to want to destroy the work of people like them?” The Privas anticriminal unit is on site.
“The damage is estimated at several tens of thousands of euros” (Le Dauphiné, 27/3)… or “There are several hundred thousand euros of damage” (France Bleu Drôme Ardèche, 27/3).
The gendarmes of the research brigade of Le Teil and the brigade of La Voulte-sur-Rhône are in charge of the investigations. They will be able, in particular, to rely on the various traces and clues collected by the criminal identification technicians. On Monday evening, the arson had not been claimed.
