The fire that broke out on Thursday, June 25, at the Smurfit Westrock Cellulose Pin facility in Biganos, Gironde, was brought under control after several hours of firefighting efforts. The 450 employees at the factory, which manufactures kraft paper for corrugated cardboard, were evacuated without injury, while emergency responders focused their efforts on protecting the Arcachon Basin forest, which was particularly vulnerable due to the heat wave and drought.
The fire was reported around 4:00 p.m. by employees in an outdoor area where approximately 4,200 metric tons of compressed paper?which the plant had received for recycling?were stored. The flames then spread to an 11,000 m² bark storage area 2 amounting to approximately 8,500 metric tons, according to Southwest . In total, nearly 12,700 metric tons of combustible materials were destroyed.
170 firefighters, supported by a Dash water-bombing aircraft and a Super Puma helicopter from the Civil Protection Agency, were deployed to the scene, according to FranceInfo . The fire was declared under control at 9:25 p.m., after more than five hours of fighting.
Weather conditions complicated operations. Temperatures above 35 °C, a severe drought, and wind gusts reaching 75 km/h fueled the fire?s spread and led to residents being confined to their homes until the evening. According to the SDIS, the priority was to prevent the fire from spreading to the neighboring forest, which has been particularly vulnerable since the fires of summer 2022.
The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. The impact on the site's operations has not yet been specified. Authorities are also continuing to conduct environmental monitoring related to the smoke emitted by the fire.
