Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene on the evening of 29 December and found a “large refuse fire involving approximately 250 tonnes of shredded waste” at the Thackwood Recycling Facility near Southwaite, Carlisle.
Crews remained at the scene for days. Half the blaze was dealt with on 4 January, before Cumbria council, which runs communications for the fire service, said the fire was put out completely this afternoon.
Throughout this period, advice was issued to local residents to keep their doors and windows closed if they were affected by the smoke whilst fire crews worked to extinguish the fire. This advice has now been retracted.
A spokesperson for the fire service said: “We would like to thank the public for their patience and support whilst we worked to bring this incident safely to a close. The cause of the fire is under investigation.”
Thackwood
The site is owned by Waste Transfer Services, which operates a transfer station for sorting commercial waste into recycling, landfill and refuse derived fuel (RDF) shipments.
A spokesperson for the company confirmed to letsrecycle.com that the company had worked closely with the fire service throughout the incident and said they were looking forward to getting back up and running.
On its website, the Waste Transfer Services says it has built the business on “over 45 years of hands-on experience in British business”.
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