In an activated carbon plant, the personnel on site detected several fires on wood fines in the log yard and nearby at around 8:10 p.m. The wood pre-dryer stack had also caught fire. The operator initiated its internal emergency plan. The in-house first responders began attacking the fires with two fire hoses, and the stack’s sprinkling system was put into operation. The rescue services were alerted at 8:30 p.m., and they arrived with 30 men who were able to get control of the fires in the log yard. A major fire in the ducts of the pre-dryer exhaust blower was also extinguished at around 11 p.m. The pre-dryer equipment was monitored with an infrared camera throughout the night. Limited damage was reported: the fan’s flexible ducts were destroyed and the thermal insulation sheeting on the pipes, cyclone collector and stack were slightly damaged.

The carbonisation unit had been shut-down for quarterly maintenance since 6 a.m. The pre-dryer and its exhaust system were secured early that morning: inerting test, ventilation, discharge of wood fines. Cutting works (with fire permit) were initiated on the fines downtake of the pre-dryer’s cyclone collector and on the shredder. At around 6:40 p.m., a safety officer monitoring the construction site detected slowly burning fines between the shredder and the pre-dryer fan. They were brought under control after having been sprayed down. The same safety officer detected the fire in the storage area at 8:30 p.m. This time, the fire originated from the cutting of mechanical parts on the shredder blades. Fly ash had been thrown into the pre-dryer fan 5 m in front, the flaps of which had been left open. This fly ash then ignited the fine deposits inside the fan. It then spread slowly to the stack and the piping. The fire source gained intensity after 6:30 p.m. with the projection of fines outside the stack.