In a sawmill at around 7 am, a fire broke out in a shed that was open on 2 sides and housed 3,000 m³ (1,500 t) of sawdust. Fanned by a violent wind, the flames threatened to spread to other storage areas and to the offices. Gendarmes (French military police) interrupted the traffic on the road bordering the plant and the electricity services cut off the site’s power supply. As the building’s glue-laminated wooden structure threatened to collapse, the firefighters did not enter the building. They used 4 large nozzles and 2 high-power nozzles while the operator isolated the piles of unburned chips using excavation machinery requisitioned from public works companies. They brought the fire under control at around 10.30 am, and continued extinguishing it using 3 small nozzles until 6 pm. Hit by a block of wood, a first aider injured his kneecap. After consultation with an architect, the shed was shored up to permit clearing using a power shovel.