Its another week and another scrapyard fire. I am sad to be dedicating yet another news article to this topic. 35 fire fighters attended a fire earlier this week at a scrapyard in Ampthill, Bedfordshire. The fire involved one pile of scrap metal measuring approximately 100m by 30m.
Vehicle recycling is one of the core activities at the site however the investigation is ongoing and details of what may have started or exacerbated the fire, have yet to be released. The facility is one of only a small number of companies in the UK that can both depollute and fragmentize vehicles fully onsite. Fire crews from Dunstable, Kempston, Ampthill, Leighton Buzzard, Toddington and Luton all attended the incident and worked into the early hours of the morning to fully extinguish the fire. Firefighters used an aerial platform as a water tower and were able to recycle water to attack the fire, using thermal imaging cameras and high-volume water jetting directed at the blaze from multiple angles. Dark smoke could be seen from a long distance, and local residents were advised to keep windows and doors closed. The smoke was so dense, the incident closed the A507 in both directions. The size and severity of the fire meant fire and rescue services spent 10 hours tacking the fire before finally managing to put it out. I am pleased to report that no-one was injured in the blaze.
There is little new that I can add that hasn't already been said across my earlier posts. Again, I encourage each and every one of us to be honest with ourselves. Regardless of whether your a business owner, manager or yard operative, we all have a part to play when it comes to fire safety. Make sure you are confident you have done everything you can to mitigate a similar occurrence on your site. If there is a safety shortfall that you are aware of, raise it. If there is a piece of defective equipment, stop using it and report it. If you witness unsafe behaviours, challenge the people involved. If you are a business owner or site manager and you can't confidently say, "I have considered all reasonable eventualities and I am confident I have mitigated all risks sufficiently", then STOP, and address them today. As tomorrow might be too late!
Comments