18 Jun 2013
Firefighters say they are doing everything they can to minimise the release of toxins as they tackle a blaze at a Kidderminster recycling plant.
The fire at Lawrence Recycling on the Vale Industrial Estate was brought under control by 80 firefighters when it reached its peak on Sunday night.
And crews could remain on site for several days as they continue to deal with the incident.
Group Commander Richard Jordan said the roof was damaged but the building remained structurally sound following the fire at the site which is used to store paper and plastics before they are reprocessed for recycling.
Dave Throup, of the Environment Agency, said the amount of water needed to combat the blaze is one of the key challenges being faced by the fire crews.
“We can’t keep all that water on site so we need to be very careful in terms of where it’s going into the local environment,” he explained.
“We’ve got officers out at the moment monitoring the local water courses just making sure that fire water isn’t getting in because it does contain an awful lot of nasty toxins.”
The cause of the fire is being investigated at the site, which was hit by another fire back in December last year when flames broke out in a building that stored papers and plastics.
Copyright Press Association 2013