A fire of electrical origin occurred on Thursday at the Arkema chemical products site in Jarrie (Isère), near Grenoble, a high-threshold Seveso classified site, before being quickly “controlled”, indicated the group and the Isère prefecture, stating that there were no injuries.
The fire broke out at 8:45 a.m. in a sodium chlorate packaging workshop, resulting in “an explosion and release of smoke. The fire was quickly contained by the operator’s internal resources, joined by 83 firefighters and specialized teams from SDIS 38″, according to the prefecture.
“The incident is now over, and caused no casualties, no product spills or pollution and no toxicity was noted. The SDIS38 maintains a monitoring team on site, ”she adds in a press release.
Population confined but not evacuated
The company’s internal operation plan was triggered and the internal security teams quickly intervened, as well as the firefighters, specifies Arkema, which adds that “the fire was brought under control at 9:10 am”.
Internet users had reported “explosion(s)” on social networks and published photos showing a thick plume of smoke.
The incident did not lead to evacuations but the population, alerted by sirens, had been confined within a perimeter of 1,100 meters around the platform, while the N85 near the site was cut off to traffic in the both directions. These measures have now been lifted, according to the prefecture.
Arkema’s Jarrie plant is the group’s largest hydrogen peroxide production unit. Its products are mainly used for bleaching and disinfection, according to Arkema’s website.