Gard. A violent fire is underway in a silo at the Calcia site in Beaucaire

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Around 3:30 a.m., Tuesday November 5, 2024, a violent fire declared himself within the industrial site of the Calcia company in Beaucaire (Gard). The firefighters assure that it is not a Seveso classified site.

No casualties

Requested by Actu.fr, the Gard firefighters provide an initial assessment of this “complicated intervention which should last several days ».

“For a reason that is not known at the moment, the fire started at the bottom of the silo, around 3:35 a.m. Thirty colleagues went to the site. We quickly deployed 17 technical machinesdont several water lances », says Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Péréa.

In the middle of the night, no one was near this high silo. 31 meters . No casualtiesis to be deplored. Shortly before 7 a.m., “the initial firecould have been extinguished, but our work is far from finished,” explains the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service (SDIS) of Gard.

Several days

The imposing silo contained more than 500 m³ coal . The Gard firefighters were able to count on the reinforcement of significant technical resources belonging to the Calcia company, owner of the silo.

“The temperature in the silo may have exceeded 150°C . Our joint work will make it possible to gradually bring this temperature down. We will send inside the carbon dioxide which will help dissipate the oxygen present. Outside, we set up a sort of crown of water which contributes to the cooling of the building”, specifies the Gard fire soldier.

At the start of the day, the firefighters were still around thirty to be mobilized near the industrial site. “Our colleagues will surely stay on site and take turns during several days to gradually bring down the temperature of the silo. We count on 2 to 3 dayspresence on our part,” concludes Christian Péréa.

A previous fire took place on the morning of Wednesday August 30, 2023 in the same location. No casualties had been reported, but the100 employeesworking on site had to be temporarily evacuated.

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