Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

A fire broke out in a factory specialized in decorative screen printing on glass bottles. While a newly-installed glazing machine was being submitted to a pre-production test, the treatment (etching) bath in place was empty. One of the electrical resistances used to maintain the bath at the right treatment temperature was still on during its dewatering. The superheat caused nearby material to ignite, in particular the polypropylene tank that had contained the bath. The fire spread throughout the entire workshop and generated thick, heavy smoke (basically due to tank combustion). Given the suspicion of smoke cloud toxicity, the local gendarmerie officers evacuated the smoke-filled zone, i.e. in all some 300 people (most of whom were employed by neighbouring companies). Fire water was collected from onsite networks, as this water had been contained by lowering gates at the site exit once the incident began. On the next day, the fire water, which constituted more than 18 tons of waste, was discharged by a specialized firm. Property losses were sizable, with the cost of the destroyed machine evaluated in excess of 1 million euros. The operator error, i.e. proceeding with tank draining without shutting off the electrical supply to heating resistances, caused this fire. Since the machine had been scheduled for tuning at the time of the accident, no procedure had yet to be written. A partial startup or suspension of activity is anticipated, depending on the results issued from the follow-up investigation.