Serious Fire At Mid Station Of The Grands Montets Cable Car

A serious fire has broken out in the mid station of the Lognan cable car station above Argentiere on the Grand Montets. The building has been on fire since 14:00 on Tuesday, September 11, 2018. The restaurant in the station is also affected. In all, 500 m² of buildings are in flames.  In addition to the building, lift machinery and the restaurant were burned. The lift cable has melted, severely damaging the lift cabins. 

The building's copper roof has also collapsed preventing firement foir accessing the structure and numerous ourlets are reporting the risk of further cable failures.

According to the initial information provided by the president of the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc the fire broke out shortly after 1:30 pm on Tuesday

"Workers were working on the roof for waterproofing work ," said Mathieu Dechavanne, "the fire took under the roof...."The restaurant in the station is also affected.

"The whole building is affected, it's a disaster. " said Mathieu Dechavanne, President of the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc.

Firefighters are dealing with the blaze but are challenged by the location. Fifty firefighters have been mobilized. "The intervention is complicated"  explained the communication service of the SDIS, "it is necessary to route the equipment and in particular the tanker trucks via small paths, at more than 1900 m of altitude.This takes time."

if the cable car is out of action fort any length of time, as would seem to be likely then accessing the Grand Montets will be difficult. Lognan is not the only access lift to the main ski area, and skiers can still use the Plan Joran telecabine. 

However the building also serves the Grand Montets cable car and if both are out of action it may be a bleak winter in Argentiere.