Firms counting cost of inferno at Smethwick waste plant
Businesses?were today counting the cost of a huge fire at a Black Country recycling plant as surrounding roads finally reopened today.
Dartmouth Road and Halfords Lane near to the Jayplas recycling plant, in Smethwick, reopened this morning while Brasshouse Lane was due to reopen later today.
Roads around the fire-hit site have been closed since Monday, with customers unable to get to nearby shops and businesses.
Around 20 firefighters remained at the scene today keeping a watching brief on the smouldering piles of rubbish and looking for hotspots.
A meeting was also due to be held this morning between senior fire service officers to agree a further plan of action.
At its height, 200 firefighters battled the blaze which was caused by a Chinese lantern. The damage is estimated to cost £6 million.
Meanwhile, it has emerged the Environment Agency is to launch a review into the way recycling sites are managed following the blaze. Environment manager Dave Hudson said the review will focus on the way items are stored and the quantity of items they should be allowed to keep on site at any time.
The Environment Agency has also been carrying out tests to see how the fire has affected air and water in the area. Although there has been no significant change in air quality, parts of Birmingham canal in nearby Brasshouse Lane have 80 per cent less oxygen in some places.
Mr Hudson said they would continue to monitor the situation today.
Confirming the review he said: "We are all trying to recycle more but the negative impact of that is that piles of plastic lying around. We have to review the way these types of material are managed so we don't have a repeat of the type of incident we're dealing with today."
About 200 firefighters were first called to the Jayplas site on Sunday night when an estimated 10,000 tons of packed plastic went up in flames.
The fire sent a 6,000ft-high plume of thick, black smoke into the sky which could be seen from as far as Northamptonshire.
Firefighters yesterday continued dousing pockets of fire from within the blackened waste. In teams of five and six, the crews were hunting for hotspots in the smouldering heap before jetting them with high pressured hoses to cool down the heat. Workers from the company used two diggers to cut into the heap to assist firefighters getting to the heart of the fire.
By the afternoon less than 10 per cent of the site, which is the size of six football fields, was still smouldering.
Speaking at the time, area commander Steve Vincent said: "We hope to have the fire out by the end of today or tomorrow –but could still remain here for a few days.
"It is a painstaking job, but if we left site the fire the danger is it could re-ignite.
"We must stay until it is completely out."
He added: "One of our main aims is to restore normality to this area – many businesses have lost out on money because of the fire, we want to put it out so business can resume and people can get on with their lives again."
One of the businesses impacted by the fire was West Midland Hire and Haulage in Dartmouth Road. Five vehicles in the company yard, which faces on to Jayplas, were damaged, two of them are believed to be write-offs. A wall also came down in the fire and signage and windows have been damaged on the firm's building. The firm, which also has a branch in Tipton, was forced to close its Smethwick branch on Monday and yesterday. Just four staff were allowed inside yesterday to man the phones.
Managing director Roy Langford said: "It could have been a lot worse if it was not for the speed of the fire service. I came to the site at 3.45am on Monday and I thought I was going to lose the building, the fire was just so big. Instead we've got some damage, but nothing like what could have been."
Twelve firefighters were treated by ambulance staff during the fire for minor injuries.
See also:
Bosses speak out after Chinese lantern sparks region's biggest fire
Caught on CCTV - Chinese lantern that sparked huge Smethwick blaze
