Uncomfortable odors and smoke invade Alès after a fire at Cévennes Déchets

Smoke invaded several districts of the capital of the Cévennes. FREE NOON – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Smoke invaded several districts of the capital of the Cévennes. FREE NOON – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Smoke invaded several districts of the capital of the Cévennes. FREE NOON – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Les fumées ont envahi plusieurs quartiers de la capitale des Cévennes. MIDI LIBRE – ALEXIS BETHUNE

Un tas de copeaux de bois naturel d’environ 300 m3 s’est embrasé, semant le trouble et l’inquiétude dans plusieurs quartiers de la capitale des Cévennes, ce samedi 20 janvier.

A large column of smoke, a strong smell felt even in the city center of Alès, and like a fog enveloping neighborhoods such as Tamaris. On the morning of this Saturday, January 20, around 8:15 a.m., a fire broke out in the Cévennes Déchets storage area, the former Tamaris industrial site. In a warehouse, a pile of natural wood chips of around 300 m3 caught fire, causing confusion and concern among many local residents. Moreover, the municipality immediately took the lead by sending some 1,800 telephone calls and half a thousand SMS messages to the inhabitants of Tamaris, Bruèges and the Cévennes so that they keep their windows closed, specifying however that "the fumes are non-toxic but inconvenient".

"We'll have it for the whole day at least", said a firefighter

On site, the surroundings of the affected site are cordoned off by the municipal police and the firefighters set up a command post at the bottom of the Impasse de Lajudie. It is noon and there are around fifty at work, from the rescue centers of Alès, La Grand-Combe, Nîmes Saint-Cézaire, Marguerittes and Saint-Geniès-de-Malgoirès. Their mission: take out the pile of chips, the flames of which have not spread to others, spread it out on the ground then water it. "We'll have it for at least the whole day…", indicates a senior officer.

A thermal inversion allows the smoke to rise

On site, the fire is monitored; drones are even being used to observe where the smoke is going. Fortunately, from mid-morning, a thermal inversion was noted; as a result, the fumes rise. And the wind is turning. The disaster is under control. On social networks, many local residents express discontent and weariness…