Pollution
Humain
Environnement
Economique

Late one Sunday afternoon, a fire broke out at a composting unit for green waste. The firefighters arrived.  At 10:00 a.m. the next day, the fire rekindled and ignited the waste. Three days after the start of the fire, the firefighters still had difficulty responding due to the windrow, which measured more than 8 m in height. The maximum height allowed for windrows of this type is 3 m. In some cases, it can be as much as 5 m. In addition, the site did not have enough free space to spread the burning waste. To avoid the fire spreading to the neighbouring forest, the compost pile was moved by truck to an outdoor area provided by another company. The firewater did not flow into the expected channels. The environmental inspector at the scene saw it flowing offsite instead of into a pond supplied by the site’s collection drains. Nevertheless, most of the water was collected in the retention basin.

The company was carrying out composting operations without first obtaining the necessary licence or following the applicable requirements for the storage, retention, and supply of water used for firefighting purposes. The inspection authorities suggested that the prefect issue an emergency-measures decree suspending the reception of any further waste at the site and requesting that the green waste and finished products at the site be disposed of as quickly as possible. In accordance with the firefighters’ recommendations, the operator was required to install sufficient fire suppression systems, closely monitor the site until all the waste was removed and provide the authorities with a technical and economic feasibility study. The site’s operations were halted until it was brought into compliance. It subsequently re-opened, but no longer had any composting operations (only shredding and dispatching of waste within three weeks).

Two fires had occurred at this site in July 2016 and February 2017 (ARIA 50873).