UK Wood Recycling, which is based in Middlesbrough, was praised by Cleveland fire brigade after a small fire was discovered on the site at around 11pm on Wednesday night.
” There are always areas where you can learn and improve on safety, but this was as close as you can get to getting it right “
– Phil Lancaster, Cleveland Fire Brigade
The company had around 30,000 tonnes of waste wood stockpiled there for use as a fuel in the soon-to-be completed Wilton 10 biomass power plant nearby.
Phil Lancaster, Cleveland's head of fire engineering at Cleveland Fire Brigade, explained that the fire was put out “very quickly” by five local fire engines and the Sembcorp fire service, which serves the whole industrial site where the wood recycling operation is located.
He said: “We have been working very closely with UK Wood Recycling to deal with wood pile risks and they have a stringent pre-plan, which meant we could achieve a very successful outcome very quickly.”
“There are always areas where you can learn and improve on safety but this was as close as you can get to getting it right,” he added.
Biomass
At the UK Wood Recycling site, which officially opened last month (see letsrecycle.com story) wood has been stockpiled since July 2006 to send to the Wilton 10 biomass facility on Teeside.
Material is sourced from local authorities, waste firms, furniture manufacturers and packaging companies and is tested by UK Wood Recycling to ensure it meets the chemical specification needed for the biomass plant.
Mr Lancaster explained that around 25 firefighters took about an hour and a half to get the fire under control and estimated that its had consumed about 5 tonnes of material on the edge of a wood pile.
A spokesman for UK Wood Recycling said: “Sembcorp Utilities Fire Brigade and the Cleveland County Fire Brigade were called to the site and the fire was immediately brought under control. The fire posed no danger to any person or property.”
He added: “We have a stringent fire safety plan and emergency procedures in place to ensure any incident on the site is dealt with swiftly and safely and we are satisfied these procedures worked effectively. An investigation has begun into the fire.”
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