A fire broke out shortly after midday on Friday May 30th at the Saica Paper site in Laveyron, Drôme. The fire affected a waste paper storage cell, isolated from the main industrial site, but containing some 2,000 tons of recycled materials over a 1,300 m 2 and up to ten meters high. The volumes involved represent some 10,000 m 3 of compressed paper, according to France Bleu Drôme Ardèche .
Some sixty firefighters and ten fire engines were mobilized to bring the flames under control. The operation, described as complex, was prolonged by the slow combustion of the paper bales. The fire-fighters had to move the burning masses one by one, using forklift trucks, to transfer them to another secure cell, also outside the production perimeter. This maneuver is designed to extinguish the internal fires more effectively.
The dense plume of smoke seen in the sky over Laveyron attracted a great deal of local attention, but no injuries were reported Le Dauphiné Libéré . The storage cell in question is separate from the paper converting and packaging manufacturing facilities. The rest of the plant was unaffected, although access to the site was disrupted in the afternoon.
This incident comes after the Laveyron site had already been hit by an electrical transformer fire on March 3, mobilizing 35 firefighters. Around a hundred employees were temporarily evacuated, and part of production was suspended following damage to power supply equipment.
Historically known as Emin Leydier, the Laveyron paper mill now belongs to the Spanish Saica group, which specializes in the production of corrugated board paper from recycled fibers. Its annual production capacity exceeds 300,000 tonnes, mainly for the packaging sector.
