With 2,700 employees and 11 production sites, Belgium bakery group La Lorraine serves Europe with deep-frozen bakery products. Characterized by constant growth, La Lorraine built two new high-bay warehouses in Europe within two years—one opening in August 2013 in the Czech town of Kladno, and the second building in Polish Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, which opened in August.

To protect against failures or damage caused by fire, La Lorraine turned to UK-based WAGNER to install OxyReduct, a fire prevention concept that provides action rather than reaction. This means the system prevents a fire before it even starts.

OxyReduct is based on a simple principle—a fire always needs sufficient fuel, (heat) energy and oxygen. If the ambient oxygen concentration is being reduced, a fire cannot propagate, as the fire will lack the air it needs. OxyReduct generates the nitrogen needed to reduce the oxygen level directly from the ambient air. The generated nitrogen leads into the area to be protected and reduces the oxygen to the pre-defined level. In this fire retardant atmosphere, stored goods and logistic processes are well and reliably protected against fire.

The system is suitable for use in food storage and deep-freezer areas, where water-based systems due to extremely low temperatures and the risk of contaminating the goods are being stretched to their limits.