At around 11.30 a.m., a fire broke out on a 100,000 m³ wood waste storage area at a waste collection, sorting, and dispatching facility. Firefighters attacked the flames first with water and then by smothering them with soil. They protected the vegetation, surrounding facilities, and the other storage areas and units at the plant. The operator used heavy machinery to break up the pile. The fire was contained that day at around 6:00 p.m., but the firefighters continued their efforts for more than a week. The prefect issued an emergency-measures decree. The smoke released by the fire posed a risk to people. An approved air-quality monitoring association collected air samples and tested them. It found high concentrations of fine particles (PM). Thirty people, including one firefighter, were treated at A&E for smoke inhalation or irritation. The inhabitants of a nearby village were evacuated and 500 homes were deprived of electricity. The firewater flowed into a canal that feeds a pond. Firefighters dug earthen embankments to contain the firewater and limit pollution. The firewater that was not contained was pumped up and reused for extinguishing purposes. The water in the canal and pond was tested.

Following the fire, 110 workers were furloughed.

Suspecting that the fires were criminal, the operator pressed charges. The wood heap’s large size (bigger than the authorized volume) exacerbated the situation and made it more difficult for the emergency services to respond. Other waste storage areas on and around the site repositories did not comply with requirements. A formal notification order issued by the prefecture and requiring the operator to bring the site into compliance with regulations had been issued in June 2017.

A post-accident unit was created to follow up on the accident’s consequences.