Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

Even when turned off, the solar panels continued to absorb sunlight and produce electricity. The firefighters had to avoid spraying any water on the panels. The solar panels also posed an environmental-pollution problem as they would have released hydrogen fluoride and silicon particles if burnt.

At around 12:15 p.m., a fire broke out in a 6000 m² building where hazardous and non-hazardous waste are sorted. The fire burnt unnoticed for 30–45 minutes while the workers were on their lunch break. As it smouldered, it produced a lot of smoke, which rose to the building’s ceiling. When the temperature inside reached 600 °C, the pyrolytic gases released by the combustible materials ignited, spreading the flames to the rest of the building. That was when the workers noticed the fire. They alerted the firefighters, who arrived and battled the blaze with nozzles and water cannons. However, the firefighters had to contend with:

  • falling cladding panels;
  • a too-low flow rate from the plant’s fire hydrant that forced them to hook their equipment up to an offsite hydrant;
  • the fact that the solar panels posed an electrical hazard

The fire burned for three days. The creche, retirement home, and recreation centre were told to shelter in place. A person with both asthma and diabetes passed out and was taken to hospital. Air-quality measurements taken inside the building and outside the site did not identify any major health hazards. The flow rate of the firewater was so high that the bypass between the containment and the underground tank failed. A portion of the water flowed to the tank, which overflowed and spilled into the natural environment. A plug was fitted to divert the water to the retention basin and, at around 5:00 p.m., a pump was turned on to prevent the basin overflowing.

The building, waste, and vehicles parked inside it were destroyed. The prefect issued an emergency-measures decree shutting down the plant pending its repair and an updating of its hazards study. 

A prohibited object buried inside the heap of ultimate waste is believed to have ignited the fire and stacking of the skip may have provided the oxygen needed to fuel it. The visual inspections that were being conducted failed to systematically locate prohibited items and customers had continued to send these items to the plant despite it telling them not to. The fire was made worse by:

  • wind rushing through the building’s open doors;
  • the non-functioning smoke extraction system;
  • and the lack of both a fire alarm and sprinkler system and fire-resistant walls.

Two major fires, one in July 2013 (ARIA 44131) and another in July 2016 (ARIA 48200), had already occurred at the plant and had taken five to seven days to be put out.