Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

At around 3:00 a.m., a fire broke out on a pile of industrial waste at a waste collection and sorting facility. The fire first spread to a stockpile of kraft paper before moving on to depolluted end-of-life vehicles (ELVs). The facility was closed when the fire broke out; the alert was given by an external member of the public. Firefighters arrived and fought flames using water and foam. The facility’s crane operators moved the vehicle carcasses to limit the fire’s spread. The firefighters brought the fire under control at around 9:30 a.m. and left at around 11:00 a.m.

The operator closed the water runoff discharge valve to confine the firewater to the site. However, the valve had a leak that allowed a portion of this water to flow into the Canal du Centre. At around 5:00 p.m., the operator fitted a blanking plate to stop the leak and confined the firewater, which was pumped up and treated by a contractor.

The fire destroyed 60 ELVs, 30 t of industrial waste, and 60 t of used kraft paper. The burnt industrial waste and kraft paper were sent to a storage facility. The burnt ELVs were shredded on site. The facility partially resumed operations at 2:00 p.m.

The operator said that the fire was probably caused by sparks from the bucket of the loader or a wire broom scraping against the ground near the waste the previous day. The hot, dry weather conditions during the previous days allowed the sparks to start the fire.