Fire at French grain port not seen disrupting shipping

French firefighters on Friday continued to tackle the remnants of a blaze at grain silos in the Atlantic port of La Rochelle, but the site’s operator expected little disruption to loading at one of France’s biggest grain export terminals.
The spectacular fire started on Thursday morning on a conveyor belt on top of the towering silos operated by SICA Atlantique, with some 120 firefighters intervening to bring the blaze under control.
Staff from SICA Atlantique and neighbouring companies in the terminal were evacuated and no injuries were reported.
Aspokesperson for the prefecture added, emergency services were continuing efforts on Friday to cool the silo roofing and prevent further fire outbreaks or damage to grain stored inside the silos.
The spokesperson added, removing grain from affected silos was one option but this had not yet been decided pending the ongoing fire response.