At 1.51 p.m., a fire broke out on 3 pallets of lithium rechargeable batteries for mobile phones in a 3,000m² storage building. In particular, on behalf of a battery recycling company belonging to the same group (located about 500m away), this building stored around 1076 tonnes of lithium batteries on an area of 740m2. The storage facility contained in particular reconditioned lithium-ion batteries for motor cars and mobile phones, Ni-MH automotive batteries and alkaline/saline base storage batteries. At 1.54 p.m., a flashing light appeared and the fumes thickened. The fire alarm was triggered at 1.59 p.m. The group’s personnel on standby duty tried, in vain, to contact the guard service company. Obtaining no reply, it went to the site to carry out a check. On arrival at 2.13 p.m., it went into the first building at the level of the fire alarm control panel. The panel indicated an outbreak of fire in the second building. On arriving, the personnel observed the box-pallet fire progressing. They called the fire department and opened the main door of the facility to make it easier to obtain access. A large plume of black smoke was released from the building. The nearby fire hose cabinet was not supplied with water. At 2.26 p.m., the fire became more intense and flaming fragments were ejected to the end of the alley. Arriving at 2.33 p.m., the firefighters had problems obtaining access because the main door was blocked with just room for one person to pass. The reinforcement personnel opened the fire hose supply valves. The main door opened and the emergency responders set up a 500m safety perimeter and connected to the fire hydrants. The energy supplies were cut off in the building and the gas company checked that the power supply was switched off. At 2.48 p.m., the internal emergency plan was triggered. Traffic was stopped around the facility and the population was confined. The personnel installed an additional pipe to prevent the 550m³ basin from overflowing into the stream. Pallets of cadmium ingots and IBCs of peroxide from the adjacent building were moved outside. At 8.10 p.m., the firefighters brought the fire under control with 3 fire hoses. A major atmospheric sampling system was set up that very evening by the emergency responders and by a company commissioned by the operator. The emergency situation support unit (CASU) and the air quality observatory also intervened. The toxicological readings showed no significant impact on air quality at the level of the facility and the nearby homes. At around midnight, the confinement of the population was lifted. The firefighters sprayed the alkaline/saline batteries with sprinklers. Two days after the start of the event, which was still underway, a post-accident unit was set up. A prefectural order instituting emergency measures (APMU) was published as of the next day to regulate the shutdown of the facility, the continuation of the various measurements in the environment (1,000 samples in all), the establishment of an environmental and health monitoring plan and the management of firefighting water and waste (including gathering of the objects blown out by the battery explosions). The emergency services left the premises after a five-day intervention.
An employee who intervened was indisposed by the fumes, and was taken care of by the emergency services. The whole building was destroyed, entailing substantial operating losses.
According to the analysis of the video surveillance recordings, the most likely hypothesis concerning the source of the fire was the thermal runaway of a mobile phone battery stored on a box pallet. Battery damage, wear or else a short circuit could have contributed to this thermal runaway.
The BEA-RI performed an investigation.
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