Around 70 firefighters from Norfolk and Suffolk Fire and Rescue Services attended the call at David Yarham Salvage Ltd at Harveys Lane, responding to a call-out at 10:19, with the response involving 10 appliances at its peak.
Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service has reported that the blaze involved between 500 and 1,000 cars and took around 12 hours to extinguish. Police and ambulance crews also attended.
In its report of the incident, the Fire Service logged that crews had used a foam attack to suppress the fire. Other specialist appliances in attendance included an aerial ladder platform and water carrier.
The Fire Service has not commented on the potential cause of the fire, but has revealed that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
ATF
The site, which sits close to the B1332 Norwich to Bungay Road, is used for vehicle repairs and is also a registered Authorised Treatment Facility for the dismantling of ELVs.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com today the site’s owner, David Yarham said he suspected that the fire had been caused by arson as the vehicles affected had been depolluted and were unlikely to contain easily combustible materials. He added that he was awaiting official confirmation of the cause of the fire from investigators.
He said: “The fire had affected some cars that had been ready to be crushed. They had all been depolluted so it has got to be a case of arson.”
Mr Yarham added that the site had recently been visited by the Environment Agency, who had been happy with the storage procedures for vehicles.
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