Rubber Recycling plant on fire

Rubber Recycling hit the national press headlines for all the wrong reasons today when a recycling facility in Renfrewshire, Scotland, caught fire. The blaze started at the plant, which specialises in the recycling of road tyres from cars and trucks, late last night and by the early hours of this morning required a large contingent of fire appliances to control the flames. At one stage the pall of smoke was drifting east over Glasgow city centre, and there was a danger that the nearby Glasgow airport would be closed to flights.   Incident commander William MacDonald, group manager at the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service told BBC Scotland that the operation to fully extinguish the blaze was ongoing. “Crews working through the night successfully brought the fire under control but this is a protracted incident,” he said. “Firefighting operations are continuing and will likely be ongoing for some time. “We currently have two high-volume pumps and four standard appliances in attendance. All relief crews are now in place with about 30 firefighters still on scene.” Although there were no injuries at the facility or in the surrounding businesses, worryingly, a spokesperson for Police Scotland stated that “Inquiries are continuing, however we are treating it as wilful at this time.” The implication that this was an arson attack is a concern for all authorities and industrial rubber businesses, as, once a fire gains a hold in bulk rubber stores, it is notoriously difficult to control and extinguish. There have been at least ten uncontrolled fires in UK tyre dumps in the last year alone, and such dumps are a recognised hazard, with illegal dumping being a particular issue. The preparations for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games had already identified this location as a potential risk, and sadly, it seems as though those fears were justified, albeit with human intervention most likely the cause of the outbreak. Author: Adam Hooper Date 11th July 2014

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