Fire spread in a 200sq.m warehouse containing a stockpile of cardboard boxes in a pork slaughterhouse and chopping facility. A maintenance staff member recorded around 8:45 am the presence of smoke above the “poultry” building while detecting suspicious odours at the level of the storage area. Another maintenance technician cut the electrical power supply as a safety precaution, and a crew arrived with extinguishers before notifying the local fire station. The plant was completely evacuated. Specialised teams shut off gas inlets and fire-fighters brought the blaze under control.
The main facility, whose refrigeration installations (apparently designed around use of a chloro-fluoro refrigerant) were intact, resumed activities at 10:30 am. The damaged zones were cleared that same afternoon with fire-fighter assistance. A specialised subcontractor disposed of the wastes collected in a bin.
According to the operator, malicious intent coupled with an electrical problem tied to the presence of a large number of electrical beams along the walls and roof might have been the cause. The police carried out an investigation and an expert appraiser was appointed by the insurer. During a site inspection, authorities noticed that the fire outbreak had occurred on the roof of an adjacent premises, seriously damaging contents of this building, part of whose asbestos cement roof was destroyed.
Several items of regulatory noncompliance were also observed, including the absence of declaration of this accident to authorities, fire extinction water was channelled to the municipal treatment plant without preliminary analyses, limited water resources (the building of a new 480 m³ backup water was ordered), inadequate smoke exhaust outlets and fire alarms, facility lacking a proper ETARE plan for its classification, and an inappropriate accumulator charging station. The implementation of anti-intrusion systems was requested, along with several technical measures relative to rebuilding the damaged premises: fire and anti-intrusion detectors plus the introduction of adapted procedures, installation of fire doors and smoke exhaust outlets, protective flocking on the structure’s metal frame to block the spreading of a possible fire, and installation of appropriate fire protection systems (separate water supply) in accordance with current regulations and guidelines. The Prefect was asked to issue an official notification order and a complementary order. The facility’s safety report was updated with assistance provided by a specialised consultant.
