01.07.13 - Large Fire at Smethwick Recycling Plant – Largest Blaze in the West Midlands

Firefighters are tackling a blaze involving 100,000 tonnes of plastic recycling material and a factory unit say it is the largest fire seen in the West Midlands.

Around 200 fire fighters from across the Midlands were called out to tackle the massive blaze in Smethwick near Birmingham.

The fire started at 11.30pm on Sunday night and residents woke this morning to a cloud of this black smoke as the fire at the Jayplas Recycling plant, Dartmouth Road, continued to burn.

Road have been closed around the incident on Dartmouth Road,  Brasshouse Lane and Halfords Lane and drivers were also warned to avoid junction 1 of the M5 due to expected congestion.

No homes were evacuated in the blaze, however residents in Chelmsley Wood have been warned the plume of smoke was falling in their area. They were warned to stay out of the smoke and to keep doors and windows closed.

Birmingham International Airport has been alerted because a plume of smoke is rising 6,000ft into the air although there is currently no impact on flights.

31.05.13 - Fire at Egger UK factory in Hexham

The fire at the Egger UK wood-product plant in Hexham. A Full investigation has been launched into a huge blaze at one of Northumberland’s biggest factories. Sixty firefighters from across the North East tackled the fire at the Egger UK wood-product plant in Hexham.

Full Production at the factory has been temporarily suspended and the organisation will be working with Fire investigators to determine the exact cause of the Fire. The intensity of the blaze was due to thermal oil used in the heating system catching fire and our engineers.

Roads were closed and nearby care home residents evacuated as fire crews from seven stations in three counties tackled the incident. As a full-scale investigation into the cause was launched, Egger management and police confirmed there had been no casualties.

It is believed the blaze, confined to the factory’s heat-generating biomass plant, was caused by thermal oil igniting and rupturing a pipe. As flames and a huge pall of smoke rose into the night sky at 10.30pm on Sunday, fire officers threw a 200-metre safety cordon around the plant.

18.04.13 - Severe Fire in Birmingham – Smurfit Kappa Paper Mill

Around 10,000 Tonnes of paper and cardboard are on fire at the Smurfit Kappa Paper Mill in Birmingham, West Midlands.

More than 15 Fire Engines were on the scene of the Blaze at the Smurfit Kappa Paper Mill as reported by West Midlands Fire Service. Over 100 firefighters remain at the scene of the fire.

Station commander Mal Fellows said the service had help from a police helicopter to keep the fire under control.

“It’s been particularly difficult due to the high winds and the size of the site.”

“We’re pretty sure we’ve actually contained this within the boundary.”

“There is a good fire plan at Kappa but we’ve put crews in place to stop the fire spreading.”

“We’ve had small fires throughout the night from burning embers but we’ve been spotting those and we utilised the police helicopter to spot these which has been a great asset for us.”

There have been no reported injuries and local residents have been advised to keep all windows and doors shut although the material that caught fire is not toxic.

Smurfit Kappa is one of the leading producers of paper-based packaging in the world with more than 41,000 employees in 32 countries, the company’s website says.

It is thought the fire started in an outside storage area and the cause of the fire is being investigated and CCTV footage being reviewed.