The fire that struck the Lubrizol factory in Rouen on September 26, 2019 most likely broke out on the company's site, and not at its neighbor, according to the conclusions of an additional expert report on the industrial accident.
A previous expert report carried out at the end of 2020 had reached the same conclusions.
“The additional elements (…) and the additional study made to the alarm and detection systems allow us to confirm the fire starting zone initially selected, without however being able to refine it further”, write the experts in this new document. .
The preferred hypothesis remains "a departure from the influence of the LZ company", in other words Lubrizol, underlines this report.
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The initial expertise had been requested by the Paris public prosecutor's office, which had opened an investigation into this extraordinary fire during which nearly 10,000 tonnes of potentially toxic chemicals burned, on the Lubrizol site and that of its neighbor Normandie Logistique. .
The additional expertise was carried out at the request of the investigation.
The flames from the neighbor?
“A very strongly minimized hypothesis”
The Lubrizol company has claimed from the start that the fire originated in the neighboring company, Normandie Logistique, which the latter describes as "almost impossible".
"The spread of the fire from the Normandie Logistique right-of-way to Lubrizol is a very strongly minimized hypothesis", write the experts in their additional conclusions.
The causes of the accident could not be formally established, several hypotheses being considered plausible, in particular a "technical cause, which could be linked to a source of energy" or a "cause linked to human intervention". .
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The initial expert report noted that "the case of poor handling or action cannot generally be excluded", citing for example the "movements of a handling machine in the environment of the area of interest" .
The experts specified that “the accidental deterioration of a container, following a machine maneuver, can lead to the outbreak of fire in its contents”.
The fire did not cause any casualties on September 26, 2019 but caused a colossal plume of black smoke, and the civil parties fear long-term consequences on human health and the environment.
