Tragedy as 24-Year-Old Dies Suddenly of Heart Attack While Fighting France Car Fire

France’s Chief of the Defence Staff has paid tribute to a fallen fireman who died of a heart attack on Sunday night while putting out a car fire.

General Thierry Burkhard wrote that the army was paying tribute to the “total commitment” of Master Corporal Dorian Damelincourt, the 24-year-old firefighter who died on Sunday night while attending to a call. Damelincourt was part of the response to a fire in an underground car park in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis which damaged a number of vehicles, but suffered a heart attack.

Per a report in Le Figaro, despite a rapid response by his colleagues, Damelincourt was declared dead two hours later at a nearby military hospital. It is claimed Damelincourt was cited for his “exceptional commitment” and was recently promoted. He was a recipient of the French National Defence Medal.

Although the fireman’s death while putting out a multi-car fire came amid a major upswing in violence in France over the past six nights of rioting which has manifested itself with thousands of vehicle burnings, the government has not officially linked the two events. An investigation is underway, but police say they are not yet aware of a confirmed link and the district containing the car park is not known to have been touched by rioting.