Drone footage shows efforts to tackle a fire in the yard at Viridor’s St Helens WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) processing site, which broke out in the early hours of Saturday (23 February) morning.
The incident was described as a ‘large fire involving plastic and electrical waste’ by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service.
Crews were alerted at 5.40am of the fire and remained at the site throughout Saturday, departing just before midnight the same day after the fire had been extinguished. The site has since been reopened.
Five engines and two combined platform ladders were at the scene at its peak, with compressed air foam and water used to fight the fire. It was contained within an area measuring roughly 50×50 metres in total.
Footage
Video footage of fire crews tackling the fire was captured by YouTube user Pyscholist, who had noticed the smoke plume from the fire whilst travelling nearby. After capturing the footage using a drone, he was asked to assist Fire Crews with video footage from the scene, a post on the video sharing website claims.
Properties located near to the site were advised to keep windows and doors closed due to the impact of the smoke plume from the fire, which rose to around 30 metres in height.
A drainage company also attended the scene to remove water runoff safely.
The cause of the fire is not yet known, and a spokeswoman for Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service said that an investigation would be carried out to establish how it started.
Response
Commenting on the incident, a spokesperson for Viridor, said: “A fire at St Helen’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) plant in the early hours of Saturday morning (23 February) was extinguished by firefighters with no injuries and no risk to public health.
“The Environment Agency was notified and visited the site, which reopened on Sunday.
“While the cause of the fire has not been identified, waste site operators know that it is most likely attributed to lithium ion batteries. These batteries are the main cause of waste site fires. They are commonly found in a variety of products, including mobile phones, toys, cameras, eCigarettes and laptop computers.
“Viridor thanks the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service for its assistance, and asks people to responsibly dispose of these batteries at household waste recycling centres.”
The St Helens facility is described by Viridor as one of the most sophisticated WEEE plants in the UK, processing cooling and display equipment, as well as small and large domestic appliances and small-mixed WEEE. It is permitted to handle a total of 50,000 tonnes of material per year.
The £9 million facility was reopened in 2010 following a fire at the location which had caused heavy damage to the site (see letsrecycle.com story). Prior to being operated by Viridor, the facility had been run by M Baker Ltd.
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment