Fire broke out around 3:30 pm on the roof of a 15,000-m² warehouse covered by 1,000 m² of solar panels (totalling some 660 panels). The building, inaugurated in November 2009, had received an HQE (highest environmental quality rating) certification; it featured an integrated roof structure that easily allowed assembling panels while offering a perfect seal with the remainder of the roof, thanks to a combination of overlapping plastic plates and special aluminium anchors.

Forty fire-fighters quickly arrived onsite and controlled the fire in 6 hours. First responders encountered several difficulties during their intervention: lack of suitable panel disassembly equipment; impossibility to cut electricity production plus the need to protect the solar panels; risk of electrical shocks; difficulties in accessing the space between roof and panels; and spreading of the fire via cables and the seal protection cover.

The emergency response required disassembling, by use of a customised tool (electrical reverse screwdriver with a special fitting), 200 panels on both sides of the ignited zone. This operation made it possible to avoid fire spreading due to electric arcs between panels and thereby to access the zone composed of PVC type or sealant insulation materials, where the fire was progressing. Disassembly and sprinkling of the upper protective covering on a fire wall separating utility rooms from storage cells were performed in order to reach the zone between roof and panels. The presence of this wall and a fire-resistant supporting panel beneath the photovoltaic structure prevented the fire from spreading to the rest of the building.

Subsequent to a site visit, the Classified Facilities Inspectorate requested the site operator to post instructions so as to facilitate fire-fighter intervention in case of fire on the solar panels.

Roof repair work conducted by a subcontractor assigned to install a rain gutter below the photovoltaic structure was responsible for this event. The amount of damage caused by this blaze was valued at between €350,000 and €400,000. The photovoltaic installations had to be shut down for 6 months.

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