In a wood panel manufacturing plant, a fire broke out at around 1.30 pm at the filtering sleeves of the sawdust suction system connected to a sanding unit before spreading to a 50 m³ metal silo. The suction pipe was equipped with a spark detection-extinguishing system which activated but from which the amount of water sprayed proved to be insufficient. The employees switched over the installations to safety mode and alerted the fire-brigade who arrived on site 15 min later. Faced with risks of explosion of the dust and spreading of the fire to a neighbouring building, the emergency services set up a safety perimeter of 200 m and evacuated the 50 employees present in the plant. The gendarmes (French military police) diverted the traffic on N 2051. Firefighters filled the pipe, the Cyclofiltre and the silo with foam and drained the silo after 6 pm using 4 variable flow nozzles and 2 lightweight flat nozzles. A monitoring system was installed for the night. The Mayor and the deputy Prefect came to the scene of the accident. The material damage and operating losses were respectively estimated at 50,000 euros and 75,000 euros. Following the accident, the operator replaced the filter medium, had the suction system and spark detection-extinguishing system inspected and revised the internal emergency plan. According to the inspection authority, foreign matter may have started the fire due to friction or abrasion.