In a paint and varnish plant, a fire broke out in a room containing 1.7 tonnes of nitrocellulose and 20 tonnes inert products. The single-storey building, with a 250-m² footprint and 10 m high, featured wood frame construction with a tiled roof and burned immediately. Local fire-fighters, assisted by plant personnel, offered initial rescue and relief services. The adjoining building containing solvent-based resins was protected from the flames by fire-fighters, with the proximity of the Vingeanne River providing sufficient water supply resources to extinguish the fire of the plant building and to cool the wall of the abutting building. The adjacent road was closed to traffic in order to avoid the consequences from smoke should the road become engulfed. Since ignition of the nitrocellulose was immediate, the smoke rose vertically and then dispersed into the atmosphere. Once the fire had been extinguished, the burnt building continued to be monitored. On June 11, just a few weeks earlier, a fire had already occurred at the plant when lightning fell on the roof. A repeat fire on this structural frame is entirely possible; a legal expert was appointed. Following this accident, it was decided to stop storing nitrocellulose products prior to building reconstruction. The daily volume requirements were thus to be stored at a neighbouring facility. Moreover, this operation was slated for an in-depth lightning assessment. The authorities recorded the facts of this case, and the operator agreed to commission this study and was obligated to submit an accident report as well.