A huge industrial fire involving a reported 100,000 tonnes of paper and plastics material for recycling is believed to have been triggered by a Chinese or sky lantern.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the Jayplas depot in Dartmouth Road, Smethwick, around 11pm on Sunday (June 30).
The site is one of six owned by Jayplas, one of the largest plastics recyclers in the UK.
Some 35 fire engines and 200 firefighters are attending the blaze, which has been described by area commander Steve Vincent as one of the largest ever seen in the West Midlands.
Rory Campbell, spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service, told letsrecycle.com: There is no suggestion in this case that the fire has been started deliberately. We believe we have CCTV footage of a sky lantern descending at the site on to high stacks of baled material in an open area.
Director of Jayplas, Jason Young was unavailable for comment this morning (July 1).
The fire has attracted national coverage because of its size and the impact of smoke on the area. However, the exact tonnage on site has yet to be confirmed by the company.
Backup
The fire service was forced to call on brigades from neighbouring areas of Worcester, Herefordshire and Staffordshire to help combat the fire, which was classified as a Major Incident.
Despite not being in close proximity to the site of the fire, residents in the surrounding area have been advised to keep windows shut, while a local primary school is closed due to road closures.
Huge volumes of black smoke rising 6,000ft into the air are likely to descend over areas of Chelmsley Wood, Solihull Mr Campbell said.
However, flights in and out of nearby Birmingham International Airport have not been affected.
While the fire service said this morning the blaze has been contained to an area of about 90,000 square metres, it has warned it could take up to three days to extinguish the fire.
Mr Campbell stressed that members of the public should think very carefully before releasing sky lanterns into the atmosphere.
He said: The fact that more and more recyclable material is being collected is a positive aspect of vast depots.
However, an increased risk of fires is an inevitable consequence of this, and we should think about how we manage them in future.
As of Monday midday (July 1) West Midlands Ambulance Service was providing close medical support to West Midlands Fire Service at what they called a significant fire.
This is the second blaze to affect Jayplas in almost two years. On May 2 2011, Jayplas Loughborough storage warehouse was damaged by fire, which was attributed to arson.
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