It is one of the most impressive disasters to have occurred in the Rhône in the past 40 years. In the same way as the floods of 2003 in the South of Lyon or the fatal bus accident in Dardilly, that same year, the explosion, followed by a fire, of the Shell company depot, is one of the biggest interventions. relief in the department.
A huge ball of fire
On June 2, 1987, in the early afternoon, hydrocarbon tanks exploded, then ignited in a huge ball of fire. The fire will last more than 20 hours and will not be brought under control until the next day.
The smoke, black, rises high in the Lyon sky. Two temporary workers are missing.
600 firefighters from several departments
To stem the fire, 200,000 liters of foam were used by the 600 firefighters present, who came from several neighboring departments. It will take 20 hours to extinguish the flames, despite favorable weather conditions. The fire will have consumed 10,000 cubic meters of petrol, diesel and fuel oil. The two missing workers are dead and several firefighters are injured.
A lack of maintenance of a pump at the origin of the fire
In 1996, the legal experts retained the hypothesis of a lack of maintenance of a pump and a breach through which the flammable liquid would have been rejected and would have self-ignited.
In 2000, the Shell company was found responsible for the deaths of the two workers and had to pay money to the civil parties, while the director of the depot was sentenced to 15 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 francs.
A new fire in 1991
A few years later, on the night of October 17 to 18, 1991, a new fire broke out at Port Édouard-Herriot. Two tanks on a barge transferred hydrocarbons and the fire spread to other barges located nearby.
In the morning, the fire is under control but it caused another death.