Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

In a cement works building, fire broke out around 5:30 am on a conveyor belt feeding silo no. 1 with 550 tonnes of raw (or green) coke and silo no. 2 with 450 tonnes of raw coal. Silos 3 (200 tonnes of green coke) and 4 (formed coke) were located adjacent to the building. Given the explosion risks, fire-fighters cleared a 400-m safety perimeter around the site, including dwellings (300 residents). The fire was extinguished near the belts at roughly 8:20 am. A thermal camera was inserted into the silos via their inspection hatches and feed lines, which allowed fire-fighters to detect the presence of hot spots, most likely fuelled by pieces of inflamed conveyor belt. Emergency responders first decided to cover the green coke in silo 1 by AFFF foam and cool the other silos by sprinkling the outside walls. Around 11:30 that morning, a second inspection of silo 1 using an infrared camera led to concluding that the intervention had served to eliminate all hot spots. The storage units of silos 2 and 3 were also covered by foam. Around 4:30 pm, a final heat assessment confirmed that all hot spots had been snuffed out. The site operator restarted the fuel crushing installations (positioned just downstream) so as to gradually and fully empty all affected silos. The conveyance system had to be rebuilt. The Inspection Authorities for Classified Facilities recorded these facts and ordered the operator to submit an incident analysis report.