Several houses in the area were evacuated after the fire at Fenix Battery Recycling was reported at 12:40pm yesterday (9 April 2025).
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) said that they initially sent six fire engines and 40 firefighters to attend the site in Kilwinning and later had to mobilise a total of ten fire appliances plus specialist resources.
The fire service said that the fire has now been extinguished with one with one fire engine still in attendance this morning (10 April 2025).
No casualties have been reported and, although local houses were evacuated, the fire was contained to the site.
SFRS advised those living in the area to keep windows, doors and vents closed, and not to pick up any batteries or debris.
North Ayrshire council said that there was significant travel disruption in and around the Kilwinning area and called on the public to avoid the area if possible.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said that it had attended the site to take samples from nearby watercourses and will continue to monitor the situation closely.
A spokesperson from the agency said: “We appreciate that this matter will concern local residents and businesses, and we would urge everyone to follow the advice issued by public partners.”
Previous enforcement action
The site had its license revoked by SEPA after a fire in April 2024 which burned for two days.
The recycler was served with two notices and were ordered to remove the waste batteries that have been stored at the West Byre hill Industrial Estate for longer than six months.
SEPA previously suspended the Kilwinning battery recycling plant’s license in November 2023, after it failed to comply with a notice that stated the company must reduce the number of batteries stored on the site.
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