Quick recovery for fire-damaged composting facility

Growing Beds accepts over 10,000 tonnes of garden waste from the commercial sector as well as local authorities including Bedford borough council's fortnightly collection service.

The site at Ravensden was forced to close for two days following the fire, but the quick action from fire fighters helped prevent serious damage to the site.

The fire is not thought to have been started suspiciously, and investigators believe it was the result of an electrical fault in a piece of equipment. A shredder, loader and a generator were gutted in the fire, which then spread to other machinery and stockpile of fine wood material, which caused the most concern.

Fire crews were able to access a mains water supply in the field next to the site, meaning the blaze could be extinguished quickly. Crews remained on site until 4.00am on Christmas Day damping the wood pile down.

Praise

Mark Evans, the director of Growing Beds, commented: “I'm full of praise for the Fire Service lads and also to the neighbor that first raised the alarm. We were on site well into Christmas Day and have been present throughout the Christmas and New Year period day and night making sure that things were well and truly under control. As a result we had the site cleared and ready for business as usual within days.”

He added: “At one point I could possibly have saved the loading shovel as the fire hadn't reached it when I first reached the scene, but I decided against it. I like my site but never thought me and the staff would be there on Christmas Day.”

Despite the seasonal fall in garden waste the site is preparing for an influx of Christmas trees over the next two weeks as part of Bedford borough council's seasonal waste reduction initiatives.

Mr Evans, whose company was a finalist with Bedfordshire county council in the 2006 Awards for Excellence in Recycling and Waste Management, was appreciative of the efforts of council officers and machinery suppliers Komptech in replacing damaged equipment and ensuring there was no disruption to council collections.

He said: “We've been operating and growing for 5 years and when I first arrived at the site and saw the flames I feared the worst, but its now January 2008 and we are back open for business, without any disruption to Council services.”