Klarinet Archive - Posting 000412.txt from 2003/02

From: GrabnerWG@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Fire in LeBlanc Factory
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 11:05:00 -0500

A fried sent me the following story from yesterday's New York Times.com. Very sad.

Walter
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Fire in France Destroys Fine Clarinets

February 12, 2003
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 3:39 p.m. ET

PARIS (AP) -- 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 Leblanc
Corp., based in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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.

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

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-France-Clarinet-Factory-Fire.html?ex=1046090010&ei=1&en=98865de07a7cf18d

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