Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

A fire broke out in a sugar refinery-distillery in the tunnel connecting the flat pellet silo (sugar beet by-product) to the dispatch bushels. Two subcontracted workers were welding galvanised bars using heat sources that generated sparks. Despite the installation of fireproof tarps, sparks most probably passing between the floor and the cladding ignited the dust in this area which was fairly inaccessible and insufficiently cleaned. At around 3 pm, the employees noted the presence of smoke escaping from the cladding of the gable end of the building storing bushels. They therefore decided to extinguish – in vain – the outbreak of fire using the water tank at their disposal before alerting the works manager and the warehouse manager who went to the scene with fire extinguishers and a water hose. At 4.50 pm, as more and more smoke was being released and the burning area had become inaccessible, the operator called the emergency services and activated its internal emergency plan. Fire-fighters intervened at 5:10 pm and removed part of the cladding to access the fire and extinguish the dust fire. The sugar refinery’s staff carried out night patrols to monitor the area and identify any outbreaks of fire. There was minimal material damage. The rapid organisation of the emergency response by the sugar refinery’s staff, supported by the external emergency services significantly limited the consequences of the fire. The operator is submitting a report on the circumstances of the fire outbreak, the measures taken during the event and the corrective actions to be implemented, such as prohibiting any hot work in areas containing explosive dust, and more efficient cleaning, etc.