• France, fire in a chemical plant: black cloud in Rouen
  • France, Rouen: vast fire in Lubrizol chemical plant. Pollution risk of the Seine

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September 27, 2019The huge fire at the Lubrizol chemical plant in Rouen, France, "has been extinguished". This was reported by Benedict Lemaire, cabinet manager of the prefect of Normandy, where the city of Rouen is the capital. More than 200 firefighters were used in the taming operations.

The fire, which broke out on the night between Wednesday and Thursday, did not cause victims but the risk of pollution and toxic waste cannot yet be excluded. More than 10% of the factory's facilities have been destroyed. On Thursday afternoon, the prefect of the Seine-Maritime department, Pierre-André Durand, had said: "There is the risk of pollution of the Seine".

The images of the incendiary of the Lubrizol in Rouen filmées au drone par les pompiers pic.twitter.com/Ha4RDsO9RP

- BFMTV (@BFMTV) September 27, 2019

The plant, which has around 400 employees, produces and markets additives for lubricants, is located along the Seine, 3 kilometers from the city center. Already in January 2013 a strong and unpleasant smell emanated by the company caused a national "health crisis". A gas, the mercaptan, came out of one of the cisterns at the Lubrizol plant, and the bad smells arrived hundreds of kilometers away, up to the Paris region.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said: "There are no elements that make it possible to think that there are risks associated with smoking". The fire was immediately categorized as Seveso, according to the European Directive, therefore at high risk.

Many people did not leave the house, others did it by understanding the face with a mask. Yesterday's schools and universities were closed. Today the Université de Rouen-Normandie has reopened while for the schools the prefecture has still closed. In the morning, several people posted photos of Twitter puddles in black on Twitter.