A fire broke out at around 11:45 a.m. in the baghouse dust collector of three natural-gas-fired melting furnaces at an aluminium casting plant. The furnaces have a daily production capacity of 18 tonnes, 9 tonnes, and 500 kg, respectively. The plant’s workers tried to bring the fire under control, but failed. The public firefighters were called in at around 12:15 p.m. The manager of the plant was overcome by the smoke (above-normal carboxyhaemoglobin level). He was treated by the firefighters’ medical team. They extinguished the flames with water and foam, then monitored for flare-ups until 7:30 p.m. The extinguishing water flowed into the filter containment. It was pumped out by a specialist firm on two separate occasions. No off-site environmental impacts were reported. Neither the drinking-water catchment areas for the nearby towns of Albi and Saint-Juery nor the river Tarn, the storm water systems nor the freshwater supply networks were contaminated. The regional health agency and the operators of the catchment areas were informed about the fire. The mayor and a representative from the prefecture went to the site. The inspection authorities for classified facilities suggested to the prefect that the plant be shut down until the filter was repaired. However, the operator was allowed to temporarily turn the melting furnace back on for 48 hours in order to pour out the mass of aluminium that had hardened inside.

According to the plant operator, the fire was caused by sparks from sealing work performed on the bag filter that morning. Metal plates had been placed on the body of the dust collector. However, a maintenance worker cut a plate above the filter with a grinder in order to adjust a metal panel. This caused sparks to fly into the filter and ignite the fire.