A fire erupted around 6:45 pm in a 4,200-m², non-compartmentalised electrical equipment warehouse that had not been fitted with smoke vents. The five employees still on the premises, unable to see through the heavy smoke, had to crawl out to safety. A torrential downpour then dissipated the irritating smoke. Fire-fighters had to wear a respiratory apparatus to provide assistance. Considerable resources were mobilised in order to contain this outbreak. The fire was able to penetrate the palletised storage areas by means of a succession of intense flames. The heat flow was responsible for burning some of the softwoods several metres from the building facade even though the trees were soaked by the rain. The emergency intervention lasted 3 and a half hours, and one fire-fighter was slightly intoxicated by fumes. The damage amounted to 13 million francs for the building, which needed to be rebuilt, and 17 million francs for the lost merchandise. This disaster would have been caused by lightning (362 local impacts over a 12-hour period).