Bouches-du-Rhône: Firefighters mobilized after gas pipeline explosion, fire brought under control

The rupture of a methane pipeline caused an explosion overnight from Thursday to Friday, followed by a fire that is about to be extinguished, in an agricultural area in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Crau, according to the Bouches-du-Rhône fire brigade.

"The pipeline supply was isolated in order to stop the burning leak, which is now extinguished," NaTran, the French gas transmission network operator, said in a statement.

The cause of this rupture, whether accidental or criminal, "remains undetermined" and "investigations are ongoing," NaTran added. No people or homes were affected, according to firefighters, who were called to the scene at around 3:20 a.m. on the farmland located between Arles and Salon-de-Provence, in the Crau plain.

Some 120 people from the surrounding farms were taken to safety, including 47 who were housed in the Saint-Martin-de-Crau town hall, which has triggered its municipal safeguard plan.

"Some industrial customers have been impacted by this incident; the supply situation will be restored in the coming hours," NaTran also announced. Shortly before 9:00 a.m., the fire department announced that the leak was now "cut off," the fire was "in the process of" being extinguished, and that "a phase of returning to normal" was beginning.

Traffic on the SNCF line between Miramas and Avignon, which was temporarily cut off, has resumed, while traffic on the departmental road located near the intervention zone will be restored.

The pipeline explosion generated a large flare, due to the ignition of the gas, which gradually decreased after the flow in the network was reduced from 64 bars to 30 bars, the firefighters noted, according to which there is no risk of toxicity from the fumes.

The brush fire caused by the explosion was brought under control around 7:30 a.m. after burning approximately 5 hectares. At the height of the response, some 180 firefighters, supported by 56 vehicles, were mobilized. Police and gendarmerie teams were also deployed to enforce a 600-meter exclusion zone around the flare, as well as a 4-kilometer buffer zone.