Grain silos in the commercial port of La Rochelle Thursday, were gutted by fire as authorities battle their way to put out the fire, AFP reports.
The affected grain silos where fire is presently raging on, are said to be four in numbers, near the commercial port of La Rochelle .
More than a hundred firefighters and at least 27 machines were mobilized to intervene on the site, said the prefecture of Charente-Maritime. In footage shared by witnesses on social media , large amounts of black smoke could be seen rising into the sky, according to the report by AFP.
According to France Bleu , the firefighters indicated that there was no risk of explosion or concerns about the oil depots located nearby.
Evacuation of the area and security perimeter
The prefecture specifies that the fire broke out at 8:07 a.m. on “a grain loading belt” which was inside a silo and that the fire then spread to the three other adjoining ones. Staff from businesses around the fire were evacuated.
“The objective is to extinguish it as soon as possible knowing that we are in a long-term event”, declared to the press, including AFP, Emmanuel Cayron, secretary general of the prefecture. Firefighters said the fire was no longer progressing by midday.
France Bleu specifies that the thousands of tons of cereals contained in the silos would not be damaged, the fire having only affected the ducts of the storage spaces.
A security perimeter of 100 meters around the fire was set up on this site located in the district of La Pallice and several streets were closed, as well as the motorway exit to this district from the Island of Re.