Eight fire engines were used to tackle the blaze at the site at Units 1-3 Rake Lane close to the M60 motorway, after having been called out at 4.40 pm. An aerial appliance and a command support unit also attended the scene.
Only two crews now remain at the site to dampen down after the fire was successfully extinguished during the night. Firefighters are expected to be at the site throughout the day to ensure the fire does not re-ignite.
An investigation into the cause of the fire has also begun this morning and is being coordinated by the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.
Fire
The fire is understood to have broken out at a storage area away from the site’s main building, and some operations on the site are continuing today. Fire crews prevented the fire from spreading beyond a small area, although it did destroy two waste vehicles that were on the site.
The firm handles in excess of 50,000 tonnes of household PET and HDPE bottles as well as the LDPE and HDPE films at the Swinton site per year, which includes the sorting and granulation of material. The company also has an export arm, Roydon Exports, which operates from the site.
Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue said that the smoke plume from the fire could be seen for miles around and led to more than 70 calls to its North West fire control centre.
The fire service also claimed that when officers first arrived on the site plastic was melting and running down to the adjacent buildings.
Heat from the fire is also said to have been so intense that it melted the lettering on one of the fire and rescue vehicles.
Control
The officer in charge at the scene, station manager Glyn O’Reilly, said: “The initial crew were faced with a severe fire and worked hard to bring it under control. There have been firefighters here through the night who have continued to extinguish pockets of fire and damp down.
“We have worked closely with the police and local businesses during the night as we want to minimise the impact on the local community.
“This is a large industrial estate and we have been supporting business continuity as much as possible. As part of that we have reduced the outer cordons and road closures.
“This has helped us create safe areas to allow people to access buildings and vehicles without impacting on firefighting operations.”
Roydon is expected to release an official statement on the fire in due course.
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