Numerous resources were deployed this Saturday evening at the Alpa factory, located in the industrial zone of Porcheville-Limay (Yvelines). Shortly after 6 p.m., a furnace exploded inside this site specializing in steel manufacturing. The explosion was believed to be of accidental origin. A cooling defect in the furnace, which contained sixty tons of molten metal, could explain the incident. There were no injuries.
At the height of the intervention, around sixty firefighters and ten emergency vehicles were dispatched. The objective being to avoid a fire in the factory. This risk was finally averted as the evening progressed thanks to the massive arrival of firefighters.
“In this type of situation, the question that arises is that of the cooling of the oven at the origin of the disaster,” explains a specialist in this type of operation. If cooled too suddenly, the steel can freeze inside and render this tool unusable. This is not without consequences for the factory’s activity and exposes employees to the risk of technical unemployment. »
Owned by the Italian Riva group, the Alpa factory employs 260 people. It was created 50 years ago in this industrial sector of the Seine valley, a few kilometers from Mantes-la-Jolie. Although not frequent, incidents are not rare due to the sensitive nature of the activity.
