Fire crews tackle Lincolnshire MRF blaze

Fire crews are closely monitoring the situation at Lincolnshire recycling firm Mid UKs Caythorpe recycling facility, after a major fire at the site was brought under control earlier today.

Eight fire engines from stations across Lincolnshire were called to the Mid UK facility at 1am on Thursday (October 18) morning, shortly after a fire broke out in a single storey 100 by 50 metre building on the site containing dry mixed recyclables.

The building, as well as the plastic and paper residues stored inside and machinery were severely damaged by the blaze, with fire crews in attendance for over 24 hours.

While none of the waste involved in the fire is thought to have been hazardous, Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue advised nearby residents to keep windows and doors shut in case of fumes.

A spokeswoman for Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue confirmed that the fire crews were leaving the site after the blaze had died down, but said that a further assessment would be carried out this afternoon to ensure that there was no further danger.

Inspection

She said: The incident has now been handed over to site personnel at Mid UK. Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue are going to re-inspect the incident later on today. We currently still have one crew in attendance from Grantham, but they will be leaving shortly.

Mid UK Recycling chief executive Chris Mountain, said: “When we first saw the fire we feared the worst but the damage doesn’t appear to be as bad as we had initially thought it might be. We are still open for business as normal.

“The loss of the shredder is inconvenient, but as a result of our detection system we were able to pick the fire up quite quickly and prevent any major damage.”

Mid UK has suffered two previous fires on the site which houses an 80,000 tonne capacity MRF, after a blaze erupted when a building was struck by lightning in September 2005 (see letsrecycle.com story) and a large fire which destroyed a large quantity of paper plastics and card, as well as machinery in May 2008 (see letsrecycle.com story).

The MRF sorts dry recyclable materials collected from households, and businesses across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. Material sorted at the facility includes mixed paper, newspapers and magazines, Tetrapak cartons, cardboard, plastic films and bottles, steel and aluminium cans and glass containers and bottles.

In response to the fire risk at the site, the company operates video surveillance and a fire alarm system as precautionary measures, and has trained its staff and set protocols for evacuation.