Viviez fire: “this industrial accident should sound like a warning” write two Aveyron elected officials

At the height of the fire, on Saturday February 17, an impressive cloud of black smoke rose in Viviez in Aveyron where 900 tonnes of Lithium batteries were stored. D.R.

The health consequences of the fire which destroyed, on Saturday February 17, a SNAM building in Viviez, in Aveyron, where 900 tonnes of lithium batteries were stored in an urban area of ​​15,000' ;nbsp; residents pushed the Aveyron deputy Laurent Alexandre and Christine Teulier, mayor of Aubin, to write a letter to the authorities.  

"It would be a mistake to trivialize the event. On the contrary, it is a major industrial accident."The first words of the letter, co-signed by Laurent Alexandre, deputy for Aveyron, and Christine Teulier, newly elected mayor of Aubin, are strong. Dated this Thursday, February 22 and addressed to eleven recipients, including three ministers, the prefect of the Occitanie Region and that of Aveyron as well as various authorities (including the director of the ARS and the SDIS of Aveyron), the letter sounds like a warning as much as a request for public explanations after the fire of Saturday February 17 which destroyed a SNAM building in Viviez, in Aveyron, where 900 tonnes of lithium batteries were stored in an urban area of ​​15,000 inhabitants

"In the management of such an accident, citizens' demand for transparency is legitimate," continue the two elected officials. "The smoke toxicity measurements which were announced as reassuring were not taken on Saturday until the early evening (the disaster occurred declared around 2 p.m., Editor's note). Long after the dense cloud of smoke had dispersed, it was time for equipment and personnel to arrive from Toulouse and Marseille. It seems necessary to us that, in a department like Aveyron, with several SEVESO sites, appropriate instruments for controlling smoke toxicity are available nearby or more quickly." < /em>