The thick smoke brought back bad memories.
The Lubrizol fire on September 26, 2019, the combustion of 10,000 tons of chemicals, the carcinogenic risk and the damage to the environment.
Two years later, the metropolis of Rouen relived this trauma, with the spectacular fire which ravaged industrial buildings in the same sector on Monday, including a Bolloré Logistics warehouse containing thousands of lithium batteries.
More precisely 12,000, on an industrial site not classified Seveso (which therefore presented no risk of major accidents).
The prefect of Seine-Maritime, Pierre-André Durand, had promised transparency.
Tuesday evening, when the fire was under control, the prefecture actually disclosed the first results of the analyzes.
They want to be reassuring.
VIDEO.
Fire in Bolloré Logistics warehouses near Rouen: the fire now contained
The main risk came from burning automotive lithium batteries, which can release dangerous hydrofluoric acid.
Of the 28 measuring points set up by the firefighters on and around the site, the analyzes “all showed that the level of hydrofluoric acid remained at zero”.
The firefighters also checked the presence of nitric oxide, hydrochloric acid, hydrocyanic acid and hydrofluoric acid in the air.
The atmospheric samples "did not show any risk for the population in the department", indicates the press release.
“With all these factories, there will undoubtedly be other fires”
Edith Morainville, 71, lives in the town of Moulineaux, about 500 m as the crow flies from the industrial zone and was in the front row when the warehouse caught fire.
She saw from her windows “flames and explosions, like fireworks.
»
“Neither the town hall nor the emergency services warned me to be careful (…).
We weren't reassured, we were scared!
“, Testifies the retiree to AFP.
“I heard a big
boom
(…) Then the cloud started coming towards us, says Joël Wilmet, also 71 years old.
With all these factories, there will undoubtedly be other fires but we do not live especially in fear”.
There is "neither injured, nor victim, no neighboring destruction", welcomed the prefect.
The disaster presented "no risk to the population", the first residents living more than 500 m away.
On Tuesday, a few dozen people gathered in front of the prefecture on the initiative of a group of victims of Lubrizol.
"From Lubrizol, we should have immediate access to the list of products stored in the event of a fire, insurance reports as well, we have seen that the Lubrizol report announced the disaster, currently we do not have them", regretted the president of the association of victims of Lubrizol, Simon de Carvalho.
" No risk does not exist "
"Zero risk does not exist," admitted the mayor of Rouen and president of the metropolis, Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol during a visit to the site.
“Our expectation is that these risks are contained as much as possible.
Measures have been taken and we demand full transparency.”
On the spot, some elected officials were surprised on Monday that, despite the thick smoke given off by the fire and the nature of the products, the sirens were not activated to put the population under cover.
"The alerts may have seemed long to arrive, but it must be understood that we can only communicate when we have the right elements", defended Julie Lesage, PS mayor of Grand-Couronne, underlining the speed with which which the firefighters were able to "provide air quality analyses".
The causes of the fire are unknown at this stage.
The public prosecutor of Rouen announced the opening of an investigation.
