A fire broke out at around 3:20 am on a gas-operated wood dryer operating in a sawmill. The alarm was raised by the police during a patrol near the site. Fire-fighters intervened for almost 4 hours using water from the company’s 480 m³ fire protection reservoir constructed a few months earlier. Property damage (destroyed dryer) and operating losses were estimated at €200,000 and €71,000 respectively. According to the operator, a heating ramp had detached from its attachments before igniting the suspended ceiling of the dryer and the stock of wood being dried. The operator has replaced its direct drying system with an intermediate heat exchanger.