The fire occurred at Charles Lawrence International's recycling site in Newark, on the border of Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
” When the officers arrived they realised that there was a serious outdoor blaze and back up was called for “
– Andy Bettison, Nottinghamshire fire service
Nottinghamshire fire service received a call at around 11.40 Saturday afternoon, initially two vehicles were sent to the site. Staff at Charles Lawrence attempted to contain the fire while waiting for the fire services' arrival.
Andy Bettison, station manager told letsrecycle.com: “When the officers arrived they realised that there was a serious outdoor blaze and back up was called for. At the height of the fire 70 firefighters and 13 vehicles were present on site.”
Around 250 tonnes of shredded rubber was involved in the fire, once officers were on site they concentrated on controlling the smoke risk.
Mr Bettison explained: “I could see smoke from about eight miles away. We were lucky that the weather was on our side so the smoke went straight up, but if the smoke had been forced down we may have had to alert nearby households.”
Presence
Mr Bettison said that the majority of officers were off site by around 6pm on Saturday, but the fire brigade have had a presence on site since then damping down.
An investigation is now under way between the fire brigade and the police force in order to establish a reason for the blaze.
A spokeswoman for Charles Lawrence said: “Whilst the fire looked dramatic, because of the amount of flames and smoke generated, it caused only minor superficial damage to the plant and machinery. We are therefore still able to operate two thirds of the plant and are hopeful that it will be fully operational by mid week.”
Charles Lawrence deals with around 15,000 tonnes of waste truck tyres at its Newark site every year.
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