A fire that broke out at a waste site in Londonderry just hours after it was sold is likely to burn for several more days, the Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (NIFRS) has said.

Forty-five firefighters are currently fighting the blaze at the site, which was bought by River Ridge Recycling (RRR) on Tuesday evening. Prior to the sale, the site had been one of two sites owned by BricKKiln, a waste management company operating in the north west of the country.

Fire details

Crews were called to the building on Electra Road in Campsie at 08:38 on Wednesday morning. Twelve fire appliances have attended the scene and are expected to remain in position until the fire has died out.

An NIFRS statement said that ‘due to the intensity of the fire, the nature of the building and the material inside it, this is going to be a protracted incident’. The building, which measures approximately 1,500 square metres, contains bales of recyclable domestic waste.

The fire service continued: ‘Due to the compact nature of how the bales were stacked within the building the water is running off the surface of the bales and is not currently reaching the seat of the fire within the building. It is not safe to commit firefighters to enter the building as it is structurally unsafe.’

A large plume of smoke is currently rising from the fire, and the fire service is advising residents in the area to keep windows and doors closed.

The NIFRS is refusing to suggest a cause for the fire at this stage and says that it is working closely with the site owners, NI Environment Agency, Public Health Agency and Derry City & Strabane District Council to manage the incident.

New owners ‘recognised potential fire risk’

New owner RRR operates a materials recycling facility in Garvagh, County Derry, and also uses the site to produce refuse-derived fuel.

A spokesperson for RRR, which has changed its focus to recycling, having previously operated as a landfill business, said: “River Ridge completed the acquisition of the BricKKiln yard late yesterday evening (Tuesday) from the bank appointed administrator and assumed management responsibility this morning.

“RRR recognised the potential fire risk of having such a large quantity of waste on site prior to completing the transaction. A site remediation programme was agreed with Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) as part of the company’s obligations in assuming control of the site. This involved first and foremost the removal of all residual waste on site.

“There is still a large tonnage of waste on the site which was not in the building affected by the fire and RRR has received permission from the NIEA to start removing the remaining waste from the site as soon as the health and safety situation allows.

“RRR is an established waste management company that operates three other similar sites. The company has an impeccable health and safety and site management record. The company operates under strict and rigid quality and regulatory directives, and this unfortunate event is in no way due to operating activities attributable to RRR.

“The company is working closely with Environment Health officers from the Derry and Strabane Council, the NIEA and the fire service to ensure that any impact on the community and environment are monitored and managed as and when they arise.

“This is a deeply unfortunate situation for a community which already has concerns about the industrial area that borders them and RRR is intent on firstly ensuring that the disruption to the Strathfoyle community from the fire is minimised and that long term the site is operated in a professional and responsible manner such that a similar event never happens again.”

WISH guidance

Fires at waste sites are commonplace, with figures released in 2013 showing that between 2001 and 2012, the average rate of fires at waste and recycling works came in at just under one per day.

In an attempt to prevent fires from occurring, the Waste Industry Safety and Health (WISH) Forum has issued new guidance to help waste site operators reduce fire risk.

Endorsed by the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (CFOA), and developed with input from England’s Environment Agency (EA), the Environmental Services Association (ESA), the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Health & Safety Laboratory (HSL), and other bodies, the guidance outlines how best to safely manage the storage of materials susceptible to combustion.

Read how the Chief Fire Officers Association suggests the waste industry can reduce its fire risk.