In the shed of a former joinery workshop, 2 kg of powder benzoyl peroxide exploded at around 4.15 pm starting a fire which spread to the materials stored in the room; two 13 and 14-year old youths who were seriously injured (blast) were taken to a Paris severe burns treatment centre, one of them was transferred by helicopter, a 3rd child with minor burns was hospitalised in a regional establishment. The 20 or so firefighters on the scene contained the fire within 15 min. Local authorities were informed. The gendarmerie (French military police) searched for the owner of the installation in order to deal with the other barrels of peroxide (approximately 15 kg). Mine clearance experts finally recovered the peroxide in the afternoon, and around fifteen houses were evacuated during the intervention. According to the press, the youths had broken into the disused establishment and a firecracker would have set the chemical substance on fire. After declaring the termination of activity in 2002, the operator should have secured its facilities, in particular, by removing the dangerous chemicals stored and prohibiting access to its establishment.