Two fire engines and 10 firefighters are still on site at the blaze in New Year’s Green Lane, Harefield north of Uxbridge – involved in a controlled burn and damping down.
The blaze started on the Saturday evening (October 17) at the site which is near a Hillingdon borough council civic amenity site and a separate metal recycling business.
The wood site was in the name of a company called Newman Wood Recycling which in June this year changed its name to Spitfire Processing Limited with a registered office in Ingatestone, Essex.
Exemption
The fire service said that the fire involved 4,000 tonnes of waste wood. Local sources suggest that the site had an exemption and was holding more wood than allowed.
However, Richard Newman, formerly of Newman Wood Recycling and now with Spitfire Processing said: “We had the licence on it but didn’t run it.”
At the height of the blaze, ten fire engines and more than 70 firefighters were tackling the fire. There were no injuries. Local people praised the work of the fire service in bringing the large blaze under control.
Control
Station manager Gareth Cook speaking at the scene on Sunday, said: “Firefighters worked hard to bring the fire under control, but this is a protracted incident with crews likely to remain at the scene throughout Tuesday to ensure the fire is completely out.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The fire brigade was aware of the site and had it listed in a special action plan in case of fire because it is within 1,000 metres of a Site of Special Scientific Interest with ancient woodland.
The fire service recorded that there were “large volumes of waste wood on site” and operational tactics were to try and protect habitats from physical damage, for example avoiding cutting trenches or firebreaks if possible.
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