In a vegetable oil production plant, a fire broke out in the distillation pre-column of a diester production unit that had been shut down for 3 days. The column had reached the end of the degassing process and the shutdown procedure. The plant’s internal contingency plan was initiated, and the employees were evacuated. The firefighters sprayed down the inside of the column and filled it with water. The extinguishing water (450 m³) collected in the unit’s retention basin was processed in the plant’s treatment facility before being released into the natural environment. The emergency services noted that the site’s water resources (a reserve of 700 m³ and a well) would be insufficient for a large-scale intervention. The entire site was to undergo a safety study by an external organisation.