Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

When loading chippings into a semi-trailer, a fire broke out at 3:25 pm on a 150 m³ outdoor pile of untreated waste wood from the planing workshop. The driver stopped his lorry and alerted the workshop’s workers who intervened with shovels in vain. As the fire had blocked the closest access to the BOURGOGNE canal, the internal emergency services could not use the pump unit. The wind which fanned the flames and pushed the smoke towards RD 905, led the foreman to alert the public emergency services at 3.35 pm. Arriving on site 15 minutes later, the fire-fighters contained the fire at 5 pm, but chippings still needed to be extinguished as they were cleared. A fire-fighter received minor burns to one hand during the intervention. The fire reduced 90 m³ of wood chippings to ashes and slightly damaged the fences, a wooden façade of the planing workshop and a 100 m³ stock of coniferous logs. According to the operator, before the fire broke out, the driver had wanted to facilitate the loading of the semi-trailer by reversing until he had touched the bottom of the pile of chippings. Alerted by the operator at around 10 am the next day, the inspection authorities for classified facilities asked for an accurate report on the accident, an update of the hazard analysis, the internal emergency plan and the external emergency plan. The public prosecutor requested the intervention of an expert to determine the exact cause and circumstances of the accident. The operator is implementing several measures: systematic cleaning of the lorry loading area after each operation, addition of water tanks and buckets close to all workshops in addition to fire extinguishers, and improvement of the access points to the BOURGOGNE canal.