A 40 m² section of a 500 m³ wood storage area of a composting facility caught fire at around 11:45 p.m. A huge plume of smoke was visible from a considerable distance away. Traffic was closed. Firefighters experienced difficulties with the water supply because the site did not have adequate water resources (fire hydrant more than 500 m away). They had to pump in water from a canal 1 km away. It took them 48 hours to extinguish the flames. Around 10 t of ash had to be removed.

According to the operator, the fire started on a shredder and then spread to a storage area containing wood awaiting processing. The operator stated that the instructions to move the shredder away from the wood storage area had not been followed on the preceding day.

The inspectors for classified facilities inspected the facility and found other discrepancies. In particular, the piles of material exceeded the authorised height of 3 m, there was insufficient distance between the composting area and the wood storage area, and the system for managing composting liquid and runoff was unsatisfactory. In addition, stagnant flows were observed and the stormwater collection system was damaged. A few weeks before the accident, the municipality had complained of bad odours emanating from the facility, composting runoff being discharged into the ditch adjacent to the facility, and other inconveniences.

The operator was reminded that when the facility is closed or shredding/calibration/screening operations are not being performed, the heavy machinery used there must be moved away from any areas used to store combustible material. To prevent intrusions, the operator must also reprofile certain slopes, repair collapsed fences and post ‘no unauthorised entry’ signs.