Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have brought a fire at a scrapyard under control after three days in a blaze that destroyed 500 cars and thousands of tyres, and left one firefighter in hospital suffering from heat exhaustion.
Upon arrival at the scene firefighters discovered multiple scrap cars well alight, and eight appliances supported by an aerial platform from Swindon were sent to tackle the fire. Police reported that there had been a number of explosions related to the fire but that “these should not cause any concern.”
On Thursday afternoon one officer from Swindon was taken to hospital suffering from heat exhaustion, but was discharged on Friday morning.
Crews worked with the Environment Agency to empty two large tankers of waste oil within the scrapyard and to remove oil that had leaked onto the ground at the site.
An update on Friday morning from the fire service revealed that a workshop and a large quantity of tyres were also affected by the fire.
The statement said: “Crews continue to tackle hot spots around the site, but the fire within the stack of tyres is deep seated and is likely to take a considerable time to extinguish.”
By 4.30pm on Friday there were still eight appliances, two water carriers and an aerial platform in attendance trying to extinguish the flames that had taken hold deep within the stack of approximately 1000 tyres.
Firefighters used heavy plant machinery to break down the stack and allow better access to the blaze which they tackled with compressed air foam.
The fire was finally brought under control on Sunday and Wiltshire FRS announced on their Facebook page that crews left the scene at 8pm on Sunday “over 72 hours after we arrived!”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation but is thought to be accidental.
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