The storm started a fire at the site run by Mid UK Recycling according to managing director Chris Mountain, who told letsrecycle.com that CCTV footage recorded the lightning strike last week.
” Lightning hit the corner of our materials recycling facility, this caused sparks, which started a fire. “
– Chris Mountain, Mid UK Recycling
A passer by noticed the fire and alerted the emergency services, with the fire brigade arriving on site at 3.19 am on the morning of September 1.
Mr Mountain said: “Lightning hit the corner of our materials recycling facility, this caused sparks, which started a fire. The building contained baled paper and cardboard and these were caught alight by the flames.
“The building then began to get increasingly hotter, causing the wires for the roller doors to short circuit, opening the door and allowing oxygen in, which aired the flames and increased the fire,” he added.
As well as some damage to the building, the fire destroyed sorting equipment. Mr Mountain said: “Cosmetic damage has taken affect and the machinery inside has all been written off.”
Brigade
Dan Marsland, a spokesman for the Lincolnshire Fire Brigade said: “Four fire appliances attended the fire using jets, hose reels and a hydraulic platform. Various support vehicles were also on site. The hydraulic platform was used to drop water on the fire from above.
The fire at Mid UK came just days after the company resolved a problem with its composting facility on the same Caythorpe site (see letsrecycle.com story). Mid UK had had to close its composting plant for a short period because of odour emissions.
The fire brigade is now investigating the cause of the fire and Mr Marsland confirmed that lightning is considered to be the most likely option.
Mr Mountain said a new MRF has been built on the site and is expected to begin operating in several weeks' time. He said recyclables that cannot now be processed through the old MRF will be stored until the new facility begins working.
He added: “The site hasn't actually been affected by the fire, we are fortunate that we have storage capacity available at the site.”
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