State services and the municipality of Frontignan are organizing a simulation exercise of an industrial accident on the Seveso classified site of the Hydrocarbon Depot Management Company. The scenario: a leak has occurred in a tank. Gasoline spilled, causing an explosion and a fire.
An industrial accident has just occurred on the site of the Hydrocarbon Depot Management Company (GDH) in Frontignan. The installation is classified Seveso (1) high level. It's all up in arms. A maximum alert which results in a significant deployment of emergency services and security forces on the ground. This Wednesday, November 13, 2024, the GDH company site was the scene of an industrial accident. It all started with a leak in a tank, leading to a large spill of gasoline on the site, causing an explosion and a fire.
Crisis management
All this is obviously only staged, a full-scale simulation exercise that the Hérault prefecture recently piloted in partnership with the City of Frontignan. The staging of this disaster scenario was intended to test the operational systems and coordination of existing services. The various actors involved in crisis management were confronted with situations close to reality.
Refine procedures
“This exercise is important for the security of our territory, declares the mayor of Frontignan and community councilor Michel Arrouy. This allows us to test and refine our emergency, coordination and communication procedures.”
During this simulation each protagonist had the opportunity to rehearse the procedures to be implemented in the context of this fictitious major incident.
Tools deployed
The Hydrocarbon Depot Management Company has implemented its Internal Operation Plan (POI). The mayor of Frontignan Michel Arrouy, for his part, initiated the Municipal Safeguarding Plan (PCS). For his part, the prefect of Hérault, François-Xavier Lauch activated the Departmental Operational Center (COD). State services have also deployed the FR-Alert tool which allows notifications to be sent to the mobile phones of people present in the danger zone.
Devices lifted
A security perimeter was set up by the authorities, leading to the closure of certain roads and the positioning of police forces. Faced with the scale of the accident, by order of the prefecture, the safety zone was finally extended to the entire municipality. At the end of the morning, all security devices and perimeters were finally lifted.
Test the devices
The exercise, which had not been carried out in such conditions for many years, made it possible to test. First of all there is an internal phase for the industrialist: during this first part, the Internal Operation Plan (POI), the commitment of its own resources and the pre-alert of State services was tested by the industrialist. Secondly there is the phase of the Special Intervention Plan (PPI) piloted by the sub-prefect of Hérault from the Operational Command Post (PCO) installed on site, in conjunction with the Directorate of Rescue Operations (DOS) and the Departmental Operational Center (COD), in the prefecture. Thirdly there is coordination of all the services involved: state services (prefecture, DREAL, DDTM), Frontignan la Peyrade town hall, SDIS, Gendarmerie, National Police, ARS, departmental council.
“Stay vigilant”
The mayor of Frontignan welcomed “the commitment and professionalism of municipal services, law enforcement, firefighters and the GDH company teams.” The councilor also greets the population “for his understanding and patience. This experience reminds us of the importance of remaining vigilant and prepared for the potential risks linked to the presence of industrial installations on our territory.”
