Overview

• The 39-year-old was formally charged Saturday and placed in provisional detention in Béziers for several vegetation and garage fires in Bédarieux.
• He was arrested Thursday after a resident interrupted him, heavily intoxicated and caught with a lighter while he tried to set scrubland alight.
• Investigators have linked him to a late July blaze that destroyed a garage and two earlier fires in the same area that afternoon.
• The suspect admitted to igniting three fires on Thursday evening but denies starting the garage fire.
• Already convicted four times for alcohol-related offenses, he faces up to ten years in prison and will undergo psychiatric evaluation as probes extend to a December 2023 Isère fire.