13-year-old questioned after fire wrecks school gym in Doubs

A fire that gutted the Paul-Langevin gymnasium in Étupes, in the Doubs, has upended daily life at the local secondary school, and a 13-year-old pupil now finds himself at the center of a criminal investigation. The blaze broke out early in the week while a gym class was underway. Fourth-year students evacuated calmly and without injury. But the facility itself is unusable now, a loss that will be felt by every pupil who used the building.

Two days after the fire, the local gendarmerie brigade took the teenager into custody, according to France 3 Franche-Comté. The suspicions against him rest in part on what his own classmates told investigators. Several students said the boy had told them he would carry out such an act “pour faire annuler la réunion parents-professeurs,” that is, to get the parents-teachers meeting cancelled, according to the interim prosecutor of Montbéliard, Paul-Édouard Lallois.

Meanwhile, the account of how the fire started points to a small storage room where equipment and gymnastics mats were kept. Investigators believe the blaze was set deliberately, and the prosecutor explained why that hypothesis gained traction. “Cette hypothèse est renforcée par le fait que ce local est inaccessible depuis l’extérieur de l’établissement,” Paul-Édouard Lallois told the outlet, noting that the room cannot be reached from outside the school grounds. He added that the pupil was part of the very class that had a lesson there when the fire broke out.

Among the material gathered by the gendarmes are two lighters found on a lawn between the gymnasium and the school. DNA analyses are underway, and they may or may not support the theory of a deliberate act. For the families and pupils of Étupes, the questions remain open even as the judicial process moves forward.

After a night in police custody, the adolescent was brought before the prosecution and presented to a judge on suspicion of “destruction du bien d’autrui par moyen dangereux,” the destruction of another person’s property by dangerous means. The penalties he faces are severe, with a maximum of 20 years of imprisonment. A trial is expected in January 2027. In the meantime, the young man has been placed under judicial supervision, with an order barring him from setting foot in his former school again.

The case has drawn wide attention, as reflected in coverage carried by Orange Actualités under the headline “Doubs : à 13 ans, pour ‘faire annuler la réunion parents-profs’, il aurait incendié le gymnase de son collège” (https://actu.orange.fr/societe/fait-divers/doubs-a-13-ans-pour-faire-annuler-la-reunion-parents-profs-il-aurait-incendie-le-gymnase-de-son-college-l-express-via-6medias-CNT000002tIImM.html). The original report, by Matias Arraez, was published on 14 November 2026 at 07h55 by 6Médias with L’Express. What began as an ordinary school day for a class of fourth-year students has ended with a burned gymnasium, a cancelled routine, and a 13-year-old awaiting trial. Whether the DNA results confirm or upend the investigators’ theory remains to be seen.