Fire broke out around 1:30 am on 500sq.m of a 2,000sq.m tyre stockpile 1.5 m high. A single-family dwelling 20 m away with 2 occupants was evacuated. All 2,000sq.m of tyre stock ignited; fire-fighters installed 2 foam nozzles in addition to 7 water nozzles to battle the blaze. A 2nd storage zone encompassing 3,000sq.m was separated from the first by an 8-m wide path inaccessible to emergency vehicles. Fire-fighters widened this path to prevent the fire from spreading. The risks of atmospheric and aquatic pollution were taken into account; a chemical emergency squad measured the concentrations of H2S, HCN, CO and SO2. The smoke plume was visible at a distance of 2 km. The blaze was contained around 8:20 am and the 2nd stockpile spared. A fire-fighter was slightly injured. The extinction process appeared to take quite a long time. The following morning at 9:30, the fire was still smouldering and 5 nozzles were still in service. On 16th November at 9:30 am, 4 non-extinguished hotspots covering 4sq.m necessitated dispatching 2 fire trucks to the scene for a daylong intervention. At 12:30 pm that day, the mayor requisitioned an excavator to move the pile, as just 2 of the last 5 sources had been extinguished. At 3:15 pm, the response intensified: 7 nozzles mounted on 3 fire trucks set up as a water wheel at 2 points were mobilised to flood the site. At 5:40 pm, the fire was considered extinguished. First responders maintained a monitoring presence until 18th November, 11:20 am. An unknown quantity of residual extinction water loaded with acidic pollutants (H2S, HCN, H2SO4) had flowed into the natural environment. Given the site layout, the possibility that a portion of this water had infiltrated and threatened the chalk aquifer could not be excluded; water quality monitoring of sector boreholes was reinforced as a precautionary measure. The tyre storage zone was owned by an operator who had gone through bankruptcy proceedings in the 1990’s and had been convicted for operating without proper Prefecture licensing. A site safety order was issued. The inspection authorities for classified facilities proposed that the Prefect impose a number of emergency measures on the operator.