Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

At around 8 p.m., in an industrial waste treatment facility, a fire broke out in a 10,000 m² building for sorting and manufacturing of solid recovered fuels (SRF). The fire started in the part of the facility housing the SRF manufacturing process, then spread to the rest of the installation (hopper, conveyors, storage bins) and to a portion of the waste sorting line. A significant plume of smoke was released.

The fire detection system was activated and the night watchman was notified, who then sounded the alarm. Firefighters disconnected the power supply, closed the extinguishing water containment valves and opened the smoke extraction hatches. The employees were able to evacuate the waste from the building; the waste was then sprayed down by the fire brigade.

The rescue services managed to extinguish the fire around midnight; clearing operations continued the next morning. The operator set up an internal surveillance system over the entire weekend. This system allowed the detection of a new outbreak of fire on Saturday at around 5 p.m., which was quickly brought under control.

Consequences and actions taken

The production facility was heavily damaged. The SRF manufacturing equipment remained out of service for several months. The sorting line equipment suffered less damage, but testing was needed to determine its integrity. There was no technical unemployment, however, as the wood sorting and preparation, waste sorting and reception activities were maintained. The sorting process was minimal: the waste was merely repackaged before storage.

The extinguishing water was collected in a retention basin, then pumped by a specialised company.

During its onsite visit the day after the fire broke out, the Classified Facilities Inspection authorities noted that combustion residues were present on a grassy strip of land near the building. The facility operator was required to clean up the area and excavate 20 cm of topsoil. Environmental samples were taken to determine the accident’s impact on health.

In addition, the operator had to be vigilant about the management of waste received during the phase of degraded operation. In particular, the CFI authorities found that wood waste, received after the fire, had been stored in a grassy area pending disposal.

Causal analysis

The possibility of a malicious act was not ruled out. The fire most likely started after the last employee had left at 7:35 p.m. Firefighters conducted combustion tests proving that SRFs were difficult to ignite.

Measures taken

The facility operator carried out site redevelopment and safety work over a period of 10 months. Fire detectors, video cameras and alarms were installed, as well as a protocol to improve the response time in the event of an accident.