Heat-seeking cameras detected the fire and the company said it immediately called the fire services.
Firefighters worked through the night on Friday with assistance from staff at the metal recycling firm to break up the scrap pile with cranes and excavators.
Yesterday (Sunday 23 October) the fire service said: “Progress has been good enabling greater access to the seat of the fire”. And, the fire service added that firefighting would continue throughout the night with separation of material continuing on Monday.
While the cause of the fire is not yet established and an investigation is to be held – early indications are thought to be that it could be a ‘suspicious event’, with an arson attack not being ruled out.
The fire is at EMR – European Metal Recycling’s – substantial Alexandra Dock site. Today (Monday 24 October) according to the Merseyside fire service, the size of the fire has been “much reduced, as has the amount of smoke”.
However, residents have been warned that breaking up the fire can result in a temporary increase in fire and smoke.
EMR
In a statement, EMR said: “We can confirm that there was a fire at our Alexandra Dock site in Liverpool over the weekend. The fire started when the site was closed at approximately 11.30pm on Friday, October 21st. It was picked up quickly by our 24-hour, monitored CCTV and we notified the emergency services immediately.
“The emergency services, supported by our staff acted extremely professionally to bring the fire under control over the weekend. We can thankfully confirm that there were no injuries.
“We take our safety, environmental and security responsibilities very seriously and we will review the circumstances of this incident and make all improvements necessary to our procedures.”
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FIRE CONFERENCE
A conference on fire prevention and control in the waste and recycling industry, organised by letsrecycle.com, is to be held in London on 9 November. More details at: www.fireconf.com
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