Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

At around 8:00○p.m., a stock of shredded general waste located outside a non-hazardous waste collection and sorting centre caught fire. The centre activity had been closed since 7:00○p.m. An attendant passing nearby noticed the smoke and alerted the on-call managers and firefighters. The firefighters connected their hoses to the centre’s fire hydrants. At 8:30 pm, heavy-equipment operators mixed the burning waste and transferred it to a cleared area. Sand was dumped onto the waste to prevent the fire reigniting. The fire was brought under control at 11:30○p.m. and the firefighters left the site. The centre’s attendants monitored the site. At around 2:00○a.m., the firefighters were called back because the fire reignited. They returned one last time at 6:00○a.m. to extinguish yet another flare-up. The burnt waste was sent to an incinerator.

On the day of the fire, damage to the site’s perimeter fence as well as vehicle tyre tracks on grassed areas were reported.

Several events, one which may be malicious, have occurred at the centre over a six-month period (ARIA 48929, 50315).

The following measures were taken after the fire:

  • CCTV cameras were installed at the storage area for whole and crushed general waste;
  • crushed waste is now stored in 30○m³ skips rather than in heaps.

A specialist engineering services firm has been hired to identify the right automatic fire suppression systems for the centre.