The fire started at the company's main factory in Littleport on Sunday evening in one of the tyre processing machines. A spokesman for the company explained that the automatic alarm system was triggered and the fire service responded “extremely quickly”.
The company said its built-in fire suppression system meant damage was extremely limited. Full operations at the plant resumed 48-hours later.
Commercial director Barry Stocker, told letsrecycle.com that since the fire, the company had taken delivery of new recycling machinery that would allow it to process up to 80,000 tonnes of waste tyres each year.
Mr Stocker paid tribute to the effectiveness of the Cambridgeshire fire service in dealing with the weekend's blaze so quickly.
Thanks
He said: “There was never any danger of the fire spreading to any other parts of the site and, at no time, was there any danger to surrounding properties. The company wishes to place on record its thanks to the Cambridgeshire Fire Service for its swift and efficient action in dealing with the incident.”
The Cambridgeshire Fire Service confirmed the details of the incident, describing the fire as “not serious”, despite thermal imaging systems being needed to cope with the blaze.
A spokeswoman for Cambridgeshire Fire Service explained: “The fire started in a piece of machinery, it then spread onto the compound and into the roof. Because the fire was not, visible thermal imaging was needed. Fire officers had to cut bits of the roof out in order to stop the fire – it was not serious, but proved to be time consuming.”
Fire officers were called in from Ely, Littleport and other parts of Cambridgeshire to deal with the incident.
Subscribe for free