Le Figaro Bordeaux
Since the Lubrisol fire in Rouen, the Seveso sites have been monitored very closely.
In Bassens (Gironde), it is "
an explosion
" which would threaten the inhabitants in the event of serious malfunctions of the Cerexagri factory.
To prevent an accident in this establishment which makes sulfur-based phytosanitary products, the prefecture has set up an exercise this Wednesday, November 30.
"
The alert was launched at 9 a.m. with the town hall, the prefecture, the DREAL (
Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing, editor's note)
, firefighters, police and the metropolis
", explains Thierry Collin, the director of the company.
The reflexes to adopt while the crisis unit is meeting are “
confine yourself where you are, turn off the ventilation and above all do not pick up your children from school
”, specifies the leader who will retire in three months.
This test, which ended at noon, was scripted.
“
We simulated a fire starting on a tanker truck near the scene
,” explains Delphine Balsa, director of cabinet for the prefect of Gironde.
In charge of operations, she triggered FR-Alert, the communication system for the inhabitants of an area affected by a major incident.
A first in Gironde, where 15 sites are classified Seveso high threshold.
Commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior on June 21, 2021 in application of a European directive, the tool makes it possible to send a notification to all smartphones present within the perimeter of the danger.
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The FR-Alert device sends a notification to all smartphones that are bound in a danger zone.
Example here, for an exercise in Bassens (Gironde), November 30, 2022. Prefecture of Gironde
FR-Alert "avoids saturating the telephone lines"
"
It's very interesting for managing crises, because it allows rapid prevention, while indicating the appropriate safety instructions
", develops Delphine Balsa.
This morning, the devices that were bound in the targeted area two hundred meters from the factory thus received two pushes warning them of the start and end of the exercise.
Another advantage of FR-Alert: "
its technology is based on telecommunications waves, which avoids saturating the telephone lines
", specifies the one who directed the operations.
Preceded by the words “
exercise
”, these notifications encouraged recipients to respond to an online questionnaire to give their opinion on this new instrument.
Around 100 responses are being processed.
Despite the mention "
exercise
" preceding these warnings, a dozen worried people contacted the prefecture.
Fr-Alert “
strengthens
” municipal tools
To avoid any confusion, other procedures are activated in the event of an incident.
In addition to the triggering of the factory siren, the police or the equipped emergency services pass through the streets with a megaphone, or even go door to door.
At the town hall of Bassens, which has been used to the exercise because six Seveso-classified factories are located on its territory, web communication on the town's website and social networks, as well as a call machine are also activated.
“
The Fr-Alert system reinforces the municipal tools
”, underlines the city councilor Alexandre Rubio.
He also recalls “
the importance
” of “
this morning's exercise which notably made it possible to improve the automatisms between the different cells mobilized
”.
The inhabitants concerned, who would not yet be registered on the Bassens alert mailing lists, “
are encouraged to remedy this
”.