Officers were originally called to the site in the early hours of Saturday morning to deal with what they described as a “large” fire at Evans Logistics' fridge recycling plant at Rhymney Valley.
” The factory is not structurally stable though so the officers have had to leave some hot spots to cool as it is too dangerous to get to “
– South Wales fire brigade
A total of 75 fire fighters were called to the site at one minute past three on Saturday morning. A security guard discovered the blaze, which lead to gas cylinders exploding on the site.
It took the officers around four and a half hours to get the fire under control, a total of 10 fire vehicles were present at the fire.
Officers were called back today to dampen down smouldering areas of the plant, although the fire brigade said that it was unable to quell some hot-spots on the site, which have been allowed to burn out.
Severe damage
A spokeswoman for the fire brigade said: “The plant suffered severe damage because of the fire. Officers returned today due to smouldering continuing. The factory is not structurally stable though so the officers have had to leave some hot spots to cool as it is too dangerous to get to.”
Local residents were advised to keep doors and windows closed as a precaution.
A spokesperson for Evans Logistics told letsrecycle.com: “The company expects the plant to be back up and running in the next six weeks. Alternate arrangements to deal with fridges have been made in the mean time.”
Evans Logistics runs the Welsh fridge disposal contract to deal with fridges from local authorities in Wales. The 2.5 million contract was awarded in February 2004 and is set to run for four years (see letsrecycle.com story).
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