Like a smell of deja vu.
A huge fire broke out on Monday afternoon in an industrial building in Grand-Couronne in the Rouen region (Seine-Maritime), containing several thousand lithium batteries.
The disaster in this gigantic hangar rented by Bolloré Logistics caused an impressive plume of smoke which is reminiscent of the Lubrizol fire in September 2019.
As bicycles, scooters, electric cars develop, the question of the danger of these battery fires arises more and more.
"Despite the relatively recent appearance of lithium in the range of unstable, flammable and toxic products, this metal has already caused around 150 fires in France according to the database of the Ministry of Ecological Transition, whether during transport, in centers storage or waste treatment units, and particularly in recent years, warns Jacky Bonnemains, of the Robin des Bois association, which actively monitors industrial risks in France.
They are characterized by unpredictable self-triggering, very high thermal intensity and surprising rebound capacities.
" In this precise case,
“Extinction is difficult.
The off-gassing can be toxic”
At the National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris), Arnaud Borde, head of battery safety studies and research, spends his days torturing these large batteries.
“A lithium battery fire releases great thermal power, which increases the risk of propagation;
extinction is notoriously difficult.
The off-gassing can be toxic,” he explains.
"They release extremely toxic chemical components such as hydrofluoric acid", specifies François Rousseau, director general of the Ecole Mines Nancy.
A hazardous substance if inhaled and on contact.
We are therefore particularly monitoring its effects in the fire soldiers who operated at the heart of the blaze.
“In the short term, it is corrosive and above all a decalcifying agent, it settles in the teeth, the bones, the blood, it is a risk for the firefighters and the nearest residents, but in the long term, completes Paul Poulain , risk expert and author of "Everything can explode" (Éditions Fayard, 2021), all people under the cloud are at increased risk of cancer.
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It remains to be seen where the cloud loaded with these dangerous substances spread.
During the Lubrizol fire three years ago, the smoke spread as far as Belgium and even the Netherlands.
