“Thick black smoke” emerged from the refinery on Monday afternoon, according to witnesses on site at France Bleu Normandie. The fire was brought under control quickly but left two people injured “in relative emergency”.
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An impressive fire broke out Monday afternoon on the site of the Esso-ExxonMobil refinery, in Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine, in Seine-Maritime, France Bleu Normandie has learned. Contacted by France Bleu Normandie, Esso-ExxonMobil reported that the fire was “quickly mastered” by the company’s internal firefighters.
The prefecture indicates that two employees are in “relative emergency” and were transported by the emergency services to a hospital center. The employees of the unit affected by the disaster were confined, the other employees of the refinery were evacuated. “In order to measure possible impacts on air quality, samples were taken”says the Seine-Maritime prefecture.
Impressive fire
According to witnesses on site at France Bleu Normandie“thick black smoke” emerged from the refinery. The very impressive flames were visible several hundred meters away and the sirens sounded. According to the Allo Industrie website, “on March 11, 2024 around 3:20 p.m., the Internal Operations Plan of Esso Raffinage Gravenchon platform was activated following a fire on a unit. A security perimeter was established and the teams immediately went to the site to assess the situation and intervene. The authorities have been notified”.
In the afternoon, the company announced it was triggering its Internal Operations Plan (POI), the fire was quickly brought under control by the factory’s internal emergency services.
Contacted by France Bleu Normandie, Esso ExxonMobil indicates that the fire broke out around 3:25 p.m. in an oil distillation unit intended for fuel at the Esso Raffinage site. The site is on the list of factories classified as Seveso high threshold by the Normandy Regional Directorate for the Environment, Planning and Housing (Dreal).
