During the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, the 26 tenants of a building located at the corner of Boulevard Anatole France and Avenue Leclerc were evacuated, after a gas leak. This evacuation was the result of a car fire. This took place in two stages.
Around 8:20 p.m., Belfort-Sud firefighters deployed a hose to extinguish a car fire. Basically, the Golf which was parked at the foot of the building, not far from an electrical pole of a 63,000 volt power line, was set on fire for the first time. When firefighters arrived, the passenger compartment was on fire.
Then around 1 a.m., thirty-two firefighters from the emergency centers of Belfort-Sud, Belfort-Nord, Châtenois-les-Forges, Beaucourt and Giromagny, under the orders of Commander Nicolas Sauget, returned to the same car which was burning for a second times. The fire melted an exterior gas box and damaged a 4 bar pipe.
Reinforced gas procedure
After consultation with GRDF duty officers, the reinforced gas procedure was triggered with the establishment of a 50 m security perimeter. With the help of the national police, traffic was stopped on part of Boulevard Anatole France and Avenue Leclerc. To stop the leak, GRDF cut off the gas in an area impacting 1,700 homes.
The gas supply was gradually restored after repairs. At the same time, firefighters extinguished the car fire with a hose. Before it was extinguished, the blaze caused damage to the building. Windows shattered, windows and roller shutters melted and the facade of 54 b avenue Leclerc blackened.
The tenants were allowed to return home, after having spent approximately two hours on the street and after explosimetry measurements in their accommodation. An investigation has been opened to determine the circumstances and causes of this car fire. The hypothesis of a double arson is favored at this stage.
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