“Large-scale fire” at Goodyear tire plant in Luxembourg

Colmar Berg, Luxembourg – Eleven people have been hospitalised due to a “large-scale fire” at Goodyear’s tire manufacturing plant in the Luxemborug town of Colmar Berg, according to the local fire department.

The fire broke out shortly before 2pm on 20 Jan and was extinguished by late afternoon, said Grand Ducal Fire and Rescue Corps in a press release.

According to the statement, the incident impacted two production machines used “to transform raw materials in the manufacture of tires.”

The blaze, said the release, had also spread to an adjacent filtering installation by the arrival of the firefighters.

Some 23 employees had potentially inhaled smoke during the evacuation and 11 were transferred to three hospitals for more in-depth checks, the fire department added.

In a written statement to ERJ, a Goodyear spokeswoman confirmed that a fire had broken out on 20 Jan in the mixing area of the Luxembourg tire plant.

"All associates from endangered areas have been evacuated, and 12 associates have been taken to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation," said the statement supplied 21 Jan.

"The fire has now been successfully extinguished," continued Goodyear, adding that it was now working with authorities to "determine the cause of the fire, estimate losses and remove its effects.

"In parallel, we are assessing the prospects for restoring work [and] will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available in the coming days."