Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

A fire of unknown origin broke out around 10 pm at the plastic (Pt) pipe storage zone in a 200sq.m building; the two-storey building was also housing chlorinated products for swimming pools, hydrogen peroxide and phytosanitary products. The site’s electricity supply was cut. A chemical emergency squad recorded a high CO content at a distance of 10 m from the building in the smoke released. As a preventive measure, police set up a 200-m safety perimeter, evacuated 200 neighbours for a 2-hr period and confined residents of a convalescent home. The closest neighbour became intoxicated and required hospitalisation until the next morning. The 72 fire-fighters deployed to the scene wore self-breathing apparatuses and controlled the blaze in 1 hr 45 min. A monitoring round conducted the day after noticed a resumption of the fire on the building’s first floor. Property damage was estimated at €250,000; a fire had already struck an onsite warehouse in January 2005 (ARIA no. 29017). Even though 4cu.m of extinction water had been recovered and discharged, local health and social services detected soil and water table pollution from phytosanitary products originating at the site. The Environmental Authority proposed that the local government adopt an emergency measure imposing site decontamination.