Firefighters have spent more than 24 hours tackling a blaze at a United Kingdom recycling plant involving approximately 800 metric tons of metal and mixed plastic and rubber. The fire also cut power to 4,000 homes.
The blaze began at EMR Birmingham Recycling Centre near Birmingham, England, March 29, with smoke visible across the city.
Emergency services were alerted at about 2 p.m. and more than 100 firefighters were sent to the scene. Residents were advised told to keep doors and windows shut.
Power supplies to 4,000 homes were cut off that evening because the site of the fire is underneath a number of electricity pylons.
According to West Midlands Fire Service, more than 55 firefighters were still at the site by late afternoon of March 30.
At one stage it was thought that up to 40,000 properties in surrounding communities could be affected, following damage to power lines above the site of a large scrap recycling fire in Saltley.
The smoke plume could be seen for several miles, and at least 100 emergency calls were received by Staffordshire and West Midlands Fire Control from concerned members of the public.
West Midlands chief fire officer, Phil Loach, said: “Fire crews have made progress and the fire has now been surrounded. These types of incidents draw in a lot of resources in the initial stages – this is to prevent the fire spreading. It is likely to be a protracted incident and we will be dealing with the incident for at least the next 24 hours.
“Although this type of incident creates a surge in demand for firefighters, we will be re-distributing our remaining resources to provide the best protection possible in case of other incidents.”
It is believed currently by the fire service that the blaze started accidentally.
