West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) has said that a fire at a waste transfer site in Tipton, near West Dudley involving up to 80 tonnes of waste wood may have been the result of arson.
Fire crews were called to Bloomfield Recycling and Skip Hire on Bloomfield Road at 3.43pm on Sunday after a fire had been detected on the site. The blaze has now successfully been extinguished, and the fire service is expected to hand the site back to its owners today.
Efforts to tackle the fire involved up to 30 fire fighters at its peak, with diggers used to turn material in order to hose it down and reduce the heat in the pile. The fire also caused large amounts of smoke to be released into the area, with owners of neighbouring properties advised to keep their windows and doors closed.
Investigators are still currently on the scene looking for evidence as to how the blaze may have begun. WMFS claims that the fire appears to have been started deliberately, and has said that the investigation is likely to be handed over to the police shortly.
Suspicion
A spokesman for the fire service, said: We are on the verge of winding down our operations at the site, and the stop message for our crews is imminent. It was a fairly large fire and we had six engines in attendance as well as a high volume pumping unit.
The fire is being treated as suspicious so West Midlands Police will be involved in this now. Our fire investigation unit will be able to give a more detailed assessment of that and hand over to the police.
‘The fire is being treated as suspicious so West Midlands Police will be involved in this now.’
WMFS spokesman
Bloomfield Recycling operates a waste transfer station on the 7.5 acre site in Tipton, where it crushes and screens brick hard-core and handles demolition waste from its sister company Humphries Demolition.
A spokesman for the company could not be reached for comment when contacted by letsrecycle.com.
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