A fire tore through a newly opened potato chip production unit in central France on June 10, 2026, destroying the facility that had been tapped to make Brosti, a new chip brand launched days earlier by YouTube stars McFly and Carlito.
The blaze broke out around 2:30 p.m. in Boisville-la-Saint-Père, in the Eure-et-Loir department southwest of Paris, at the Letourville farm where the company Belsia is based. The building hit was the site’s brand-new production unit, which had only been put into service a few days before the fire.
About 50 firefighters and 23 vehicles responded, and the six employees who were on site were evacuated without injuries.
A brand-new production unit collapsed as flames spread fast
Fire officials described a rapid, intense burn that left little to save. “When we arrived, the building was completely engulfed. It largely collapsed. The spread of the flames was very fast,” said Lt. Col. Fabien Lecuirot, who commanded the rescue operations.
Crews remained on scene for much of the night. By 6:45 p.m., officials said the main fire had been “reduced,” while a secondary fire was “still being extinguished.”
The 4,000-square-meter plant was built to triple output
The site covered 4,000 square meters—about 43,000 square feet—and had been built with a specific goal: increasing production capacity from 2 million to 6 million bags of chips per year.
That is the facility McFly and Carlito—two of France’s best-known online creators—had chosen to manufacture Brosti, their brand marketed since June 1, 2026. In a twist of timing, the day of the fire the pair were at the farm with Clémence and Matthieu, the farm’s owners, for a launch picnic.
Raphaël Carlier, known as Carlito, returned the next day to “support Clémence and Matthieu.” The duo’s agent summed up the mood: “We need to have information, we’re still in a state of shock.”
Investigators lean toward an accidental cause
An investigation has been opened to determine what sparked the fire. According to law enforcement cited by the French regional newspaper La Nouvelle République, “the accidental theory is strongly favored” at this stage. No criminal cause has been identified so far.
The local association Terres d’Eure-et-Loir has launched a solidarity fundraiser to support the owners, calling on the community to mobilize.
The fire is also a jolt to France’s small-batch chip sector, which in recent years has been boosted by partnerships with high-profile content creators—highlighting how vulnerable even a brand-new industrial tool can be to an unexpected disaster.
