Lieutenant Olivier Riquier presented his book at the Magnan barracks in Nice. More than just a testimony, it recounts the events of that night which claimed the lives of 86 people on July 14, 2016.
“With the publication of this book, you will help write the history of this event,” said René Dies, departmental head of SDIS 06. Beyond the testimonies, it details the exact sequence of the tragedy and the different decisions made during that night. All proceeds will be donated to the Œuvre des Pupilles Orphelins and relief fund for the firefighters of France.
Heart-wrenching stories
After a brief speech, Olivier Riquier plays the testimonies of the men present during the attack. All are in direct contact with the CTA-CODIS 06 (emergency call center). These have also been transcribed in the book. Among them, Warrant Officer Frédéric Dalpont speaks about his missions such as taking care of the victims. “The first task was to attend to the victims. I later learned unfortunately that we dealt with the youngest victim that night. She was a 2-year-old girl. In contact with Colonel Riquier, I was assigned a particular mission: to count the dead. This mission I accepted and carried out. I went from the start of the promenade to the end. I counted them one by one, lifting the sheets to ensure there weren’t two beneath. Unfortunately, the last one I counted was the truck driver. I can say today that I saw them all, these angels.”
An exceptional situation
Colonel Dies wanted to support the initiative of Lieutenant Colonel Riquier. The goal was to recount the attack from the inside and from the firefighters’ point of view. He also wanted to commend his action, which he judges to have been decisive in the heat of the moment.
“It was with these 462 firefighters who intervened and it’s this comprehensive departmental response, even beyond the departmental corps, that bolstered your action, which was decisive and rare in a firefighter’s career. It was an operation we didn’t know. We know what a forest fire is; this, we didn’t know, but we adapted,” recalls Renée Dies.
A desire to pass on
For Olivier Riquier, the idea of writing a book wasn’t immediately obvious. It was notably thanks to his wife, who is an academic, and his close ones, that he decided to put this tragic story on paper.
“At first, I didn’t want to write a line about what I had lived through. The first sentences of my book describe the intervention of my life but also the one I never wanted to experience. It was my publisher Carlos Zagglia, whom I know and who is a trainer with me, who convinced me to leave a dual trace. A trace of the intervention of July 14, 2016, and a trace of my human adventure leading the firefighters of Nice.”
