The blaze broke out at 6pm on Monday (2 March) and was extinguished at 7am today. Investigations into its causes are ongoing.
Four fire engines – two from Chichester Fire Station, one from Bognor Regis and one from Selsey – and a control unit attended the blaze, which the fire service said involved 200 tonnes of waste.
A West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: “The two crews from Chichester Fire Station were first on the scene and found around 200 tonnes of general household waste alight.
“Firefighters worked quickly to stabilise the fire and managed to save a number of nearby lorries and items of heavy plant from fire. The fire and rescue service has been supported by West Sussex county council waste services and the Resilience and Emergencies Team.
“Crews remained at the site throughout the night, with a relief crew taking over in the early hours of Tuesday morning at the site.
“By Tuesday morning the fire was much reduced in size with a small amount of smoke visible in the near area, which may have caused a smell locally but presented no risk to health. We advised residents to keep their doors and windows closed to avoid any smell or inconvenience.”
On Twitter, a senior manager at the fire service thanked Viridor for its support with machinery.
@WestSussexFire @WSCCNews thanks to @ViridorUK for the support with machinery to bring the fire incident at Westhampnett to a conclusion. @WestSussexFire have now left the site pic.twitter.com/ftlh6ao7r1
— Marvin Smith (@MarvinCSmith) March 4, 2020
Contained
Viridor said the household waste recycling facility would re-open on Saturday, and until then West Sussex residents could use the centres at Littlehampton and Bognor Regis.
A Viridor spokesperson said: “The fire was in a contained external storage bay containing household residual non-recyclable waste recently deposited by residents.
“Viridor staff implemented site safety procedures and the fire was brought under control two hours later at 8.30pm.
“The Environment Agency was notified and attended and fire crews have been on site throughout. The fire was confirmed to be completely extinguished today at 7am.
“The company is grateful to West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service and West Sussex county council staff for their assistance.
While the spokesperson reiterated the cause of the fire had not been identified, they issued a warning about lithium ion batteries.
They said: “They are commonly and increasingly found in a variety of products, including mobile phones, toys, cameras, eCigarettes and laptop computers.
“Viridor asks people to responsibly dispose of these batteries, using designated battery disposal facilities at waste sites.”
Praise
The quick response by West Sussex Fire & Rescue and Viridor staff was praised by Steve Read, director of environment and public protection at West Sussex county council.
He echoed Viridor’s warning about the disposal of lithium ion batteries.
He said: “Clearly this is a growing risk and we will be working with Viridor to reassess how we can mitigate this risk in outdoor storage bays as well as within transfer stations where detection and suppression is generally more straightforward.”
Environment Agency
West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service says it worked closely with the Environment Agency and Viridor throughout the operation to ensure the best course of action was undertaken.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “The Environment Agency is assisting West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service in response to a large fire at Westhampnett Civic Amenity Site, Chichester, West Sussex that occurred on Monday night.
“We continue to advise the fire service on pollution control measures and to limit the impacts of any potential risks to the local environment.”
Incident
The fire this week came less than a year since a blaze at the same site saw it closed for a number of days (see letsrecycle.com story).
Following consultation with Environment Agency officers who were at the scene in April 2019, it was decided to allow the fire to burn in a controlled way and not use water, in order to prevent pollution to local water courses.
At the height of the fire four fire engines and the aerial ladder platform were at the scene.
At the time, Viridor suggested that a lithium ion battery may have been the cause of the fire.
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