On 10th September, in a plant manufacturing screen printing and industrial marking equipment and products (inks), the 300-m³ fire-fighting water reserve was completely drained following a crack in the earthworks. Since this basin was left inoperable, the site’s in-house fire-fighters were deprived of resources (fire hose cabinet and foam spray) as well as the water curtains used to cool flammable product storage zones and lower heat fluxes. Subsequent to this incident, the facility proposed the following compensatory measures: heightened vigilance by personnel, organisation of second response teams, inventory of available fire-fighting resources, summons addressed to the subcontractor to repair the basin. In a letter dated 16th September, the inspection authorities for classified facilities informed the company that these measures were not acceptable as they stood, because no deadline was set for the basin repair job. Moreover, this Agency requested that a water reserve of equivalent capacity to the damaged one be made available, in order to properly supply the safety systems. Otherwise, the installations would have had to be shut down and secured. On 22nd September, Fire Department representatives conducted a site inspection, following which the company agreed to set up a backup fire-fighting reserve by using one of the plant’s retention basins, along with two substitute water curtain delivery systems powered by a motor pump, before 17th October, i.e. 5 weeks after the initial incident. On 6th October, the reserve basin had still not been repaired. The company consulted several firms but was waiting for the judicial expert to approve the quote received. The site’s fire-fighting water reserve was considered substandard by tapping into the backup reserve (via a retention basin); also, the proposed compensatory measures to replace the disabled water curtains had not yet been implemented. The inspection authorities for classified facilities duly notified the plant operator that such a situation would not be tolerated beyond 17th October.