Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) told letsrecycle.com that it was no longer required to monitor the scene and that the incident had been “closed”. Fire officers had been attending the facility, on the Heartlands Business Park, since Thursday October 1 when a 600 tonne pile of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), which was being stored outside the facility, ignited.
Paul Hughes, control operator for NFRS, said that the fire crews had the fire under control by Saturday (Oct 3) and had spent the last few days damping down the area and checking for hotspots as Wincanton employees returned to work.
A spokeswoman for Wincanton explained: “As a result of the guidance and efforts of multiple agencies, including the Environment Agency and Fire Service, minimal damage was caused to the facility. Our employees were able to get back to work quickly and we were able to return the site to business as usual on Saturday.”
During the incident there was concern from local residents that the water used to extinguish the fire might be contaminated by the hazardous chemicals within the electrical and electronic items and drain into local water systems.
Wincanton said that, to prevent damage to the environment, run-off from the operation had been captured and removed from the site in tankers for treatment at a local Anglian Water facility.
Schools in the surrounding area were closed and local residents were advised to stay inside and keep their windows closed after Northamptonshire county council took advice from the Health Protection Agency. It said that smoke from the fire could cause breathing difficulties and eye irritation.
This was the second fire for Wincanton at Daventry in as many months. In September the facility suffered another fire inside its processing plant and Wincanton is now in the process of investigating the cause of both incidents.
The spokeswoman stressed: “Health and safety is of paramount importance to Wincanton, and we will be taking all steps possible to find out the cause of the fire, to put in place any necessary measures to prevent repetition, and share our learning with the wider industry.”
She added: “Site operations manager, Bob Bagnall, would like to thank all the residents of the Daventry area together with the emergency services for their patience and understanding in what was a very difficult situation for everyone involved. As a major employer in the region, we are pleased that the jobs of our local employees in Daventry have not been affected by the fire.”
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