800 tonnes of metal and plastic cause ‘severe’ fire at scrap yard
MORE than 100 firefighters tackled a “severe” blaze at a scrap yard in Saltley, Birmingham, after 800 tonnes of metal and mixed plastic and rubber caught fire. Initial investigations suggest the fire was started accidentally.
West Midlands Fire Service were called out to EMR Birmingham just after 2pm yesterday and at its peak had 17 fire engines and two aerial platforms on site at the fire.
It expects fire-fighting operations to continue well into today, although major disruption that had been feared – with the smoke potentially affecting flights into Birmingham Airport and train services, as well as the possibility of 40,000 homes being without electricity overnight – did not materialise.
Speaking last night, 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.”
West Midlands Fire Service received more than 100 calls about the fire from the public.
As well as working to extinguish the main fire, crews tried to stop it spreading to other scrap and a digger has been brought in to move and separate the scrap materials.
[VIDEO: 935]The fire comes just 24 hours after a blaze at Tudor Griffiths recycling facility in Shropshire.
Photos from West Midlands Fire Service:
