Klarinet Archive - Posting 000411.txt from 2003/02

From: "Stephen Robb" <stephen_robb@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] fire at LeBlanc factory
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 10:33:18 -0500

It has been a difficult week for the clarinet industry, first with the sale
of Buffet and now this..

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Fire at French factory destroys 1,400 quality clarinets
KIM HOUSEGO
Associated Press

PARIS - A fire destroyed a French factory on Wednesday that makes some of
the world's finest clarinets, causing no injuries but at least $1.8 million
in damages, the company's director said.

The dawn blaze at the Leblanc factory in La Couture Boussey, in the Normandy
region, incinerated 1,400 clarinets, along with the entire stock of spare
keys, said Annelies Pocovi.

"I am completely crushed, we are all trying to comfort each other," said
Pocovi, director of Leblanc France. She said the cause of the fire was not
known.

The French factory, which has 37 employees, was founded under the name Ets.
D. Noblet in 1750, when the flourishing of instrumental music at the court
of King Louis XV created a demand for musical instruments.

Noblet - one of the oldest continuously operating companies in France - was
later taken over by G. Leblanc Corp., based in Kenosha, Wis.

Mike Johnson, vice president for communications for the company in Kenosha,
said the old, famous and other distinctive instruments are kept in a museum
a few blocks from the devastated factory, and were spared by the blaze.

Pocovi said the extent of the damage was still unclear because part of the
complex that survived the blaze had been contaminated by chlorine, which is
used in making the instruments.

She said, however, that specialized machinery to make the instruments was
not damaged and colleagues in Wisconsin would provide spare parts. The
flames also didn't reach the stocks of specially crafted wood pieces for
clarinets, though the company would inevitably be unable to supply its
clients on time.

"We will be able to go back to work, I just hope that it happens as quickly
as possible," she said.

G. Leblanc Corp. director Leon Pascucci "has given us lots of support, which
is very important for the French employees," she added.

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