Warehouse Fire Recovery: How BELFOR Restored Hilti’s European Distribution Hub After a Major Fire

Case study from the archive · First published in 2011

When a major fire following a break-in severely damaged Hilti’s central warehouse in France, BELFOR responded immediately through its RED ALERT® emergency programme. The team stabilized the site, restored the building, cleaned and recovered thousands of valuable tools and spare parts, and prevented further damage from water, smoke, and corrosion.

Thanks to rapid intervention and comprehensive restoration, Hilti was able to protect critical assets and resume operations at a key European distribution hub serving five countries.

13. March 2011, Magny-les-Hameaux: Four men break into Hilti’s central warehouse in France. To cover their tracks, they then light a fire. It grows into an inferno. 100 firefighters are deployed. Ravaging flames and soot devastate around 3,000 sqm of the 10,000 sqm building, and thus destroy an important hub of the international construction technology group. From here, Hilti supplies France, Germany, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands with pneumatic drills, milling machines, screwdrivers and much more.

But what if you yourself, as a construction helper, are in need of repair and the in-house tools have been rendered useless? The best thing is to call the emergency hotline for BELFOR France! Since Hilti is a RED ALERT® client, the BELFOR experts are standing at their door the very same day! 

Our staff member inspects the site of damage and assembles a BELFOR task force that same afternoon. On Monday morning, a rather untypical work day begins for the employees at Hilti. Some are granted time off due to the damage, while others lend us a helping hand by preparing and sorting damaged items. After initial damage-stabilisation measures, BELFOR takes on the complete restoration of the destroyed part of the building and of all goods and materials which can still be used. 

During the cleaning and repair work, we work our way systematically from basic to precision tasks. First, the floor is air-dried to prevent the progression of water damage. Then the floor is cleaned using high-pressure cleaning equipment. Our cleaning is not only thorough, but also sustainable: all used water is collected and disposed of properly. After cleaning the building, the actual “fire victims” are treated, the precious Hilti tools – too great and too valuable to be left to creeping corrosion.

The packaging is cleaned on the outside with special chemical sponges and, if necessary, cleaned on the inside as well. All packages are opened, inspected and, if necessary, cleaned on the inside. The corrosion of the spare parts contaminated by the fire is treated in special BELFOR ultrasonic baths and they are subsequently polished till they shine. 

Speaking of corrosion: since after such a dramatic event, the morale of the employees threatens to “corrode”, we do everything we can to also restore the human “components” – by actively involving the employees concerned in the restoration process and making them part of the solution. That’s just what happened in Magny-les-Hameaux. 

Since the conclusion of the restoration work, the 150 plant employees can once again dedicate themselves to their favourite activities with renewed vigour: drilling, grinding and screwing toward Hilti’s worldwide success!