On October 28, 1938, a department store on the Canebière caught fire.
[1][2] When firefighters did not have access to sufficient amounts of water to stop the fire and two hundred casualties died, and the mayor, Henri Tasso, was dismissed and plans to buy new water pipes were made.
[1] The Société d'Etudes des Eaux de Marseille was then established.
[2] Three years later, in 1941, the Société des Eaux de Marseille was established, and the City of Marseille signed a contract giving it water rights two years later, on March 1, 1943.
[3] It has served Marseille and 60 districts in Provence for sixty years.