Only around fifty m² of surface area and eight volunteer firefighters : the barracks of Fontaine-Couverte, in the South of Mayenne, wins the medal of “the smallest barracks in France”according to its head of center, Dominique Morin. The fire brigade will nevertheless move to Laubrières, 7 km furtherOctober 1, 2022. The barracks, created 70 years ago, are grouped with those of Ballots and Cuillé.
Dominique Morin admits: “No doubt, [la caserne de Fontaine-Couverte] is the smallest in the department but we attribute ourselves a little bit proudly [la qualité] smallest in France.” However, it is necessary fold down the rear-view mirror of the only fire vehicle when parking it this former communal courtyard and the maneuver must be precise: the rear of the truck almost touches the lockers of the volunteer firefighters.
Intervention in overalls
Today an officer and at the head of the small team, Dominique Morin has been engaged for 36 years. “I was milking my cowsremembers this retired farmer, remembering his first intervention. A colleague drove by in his personal car, telling me ‘Guys (sic) left on a brush fire 3 km away.” The young firefighter joins them. “I was in overalls and I left in this outfit”, he laughs.
– Lisa Guinic
The four women and four men volunteers now all have the right to a jacket and a helmet. Dominique Morin recruited them himself, “great pride” he rejoices seeing them still mobilized. But the head of the center will remember one thing above all as the end of his commitment approaches: “recognition from people. I’m never jaded by it.”
“A slight twinge in the heart”
Before pulling the gate of the Fontaine-Couverte barracks one of the last times, the officer recognizes “a slight twinge in the heart“, without however feeling “nostalgic”. He prefers to see in the regrouping with the other two centers, a chance “of keep a team of firefighters in the area”. The move to Laubrières is a “satisfaction of not seeing the barracks close permanently” for Dominique Morin, even if he will put 5 to 6 additional minutes to join his emergency vehicles before an intervention.