A member of the site’s staff detected a fire at 5.05am on Wednesday (27 April). They called the fire service “immediately”, Hills says, and initiated the site emergency plan.
On arrival, crews found approximately 40,000 tonnes of low-grade clinical waste and general household waste and 2,000 tonnes of tyre bales ablaze.
At the height of the incident, there were around 40 firefighters in attendance, although the fire service says this was “scaled back” by the afternoon.
The Environment Agency tweeted that it was on-site on Wednesday, “supporting this incident and monitoring the impact on the environment.”
Fire crews from Melksham and Stratton provided a watching brief overnight, and a crew from Bradford on Avon and a water carrier from Pewsey were on scene from early light on 28 April to continue working with site staff to break down the waste stack and smother the affected area with soil to extinguish the fire.
Hills says no injuries or damage to property resulted from the incident and the fire service left the site at 11.15am yesterday. The site is open for “normal business” today.
Station manager Dave Geddes, the incident commander, said a fire investigation was unable to identify an exact cause due to the size of the affected waste stack, “beyond being satisfied that it started accidentally.”
Safe
Mr Geddes said: “Thanks to the hard work of our firefighters and the on-site staff, really good progress was made yesterday in containing this fire, and today we have been able to fully cover the affected area with earth and get it capped off.
The site team are happy that it is safe
– Station manager Dave Geddes
“There may still be some smoke rising from the site as everything settles, but the site team are happy that it is safe.”
Mike Hill, chief executive of The Hills Group thanked both the fire and rescue services “for their quick response” and his employees, who he said worked alongside crews during the incident to ensure the fire was brought under control as quickly as possible.
The Lower Compton landfill site also suffered a fire in 2018 (see letsrecycle.com story).
Wiltshire
Hills Waste Solutions says it offers a range of specialist waste management and recycling services to the public and private sector.
It describes itself as a regional business which, while centred on Wiltshire, has stretched its boundaries into neighbouring counties to become one of the largest providers of waste services in the West Country.
Hills Waste Solutions is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Hills Group Limited, a privately owned family company established in 1900.
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