At least 120 firefighters have spent over 24 hours tackling a huge blaze at Tilbury power station, in Essex.
The fire broke out on the morning of Monday 27th February at approximately 07:45 in a wood pellet hopper near the top of the building and around 4- 6000 tonnes of fuel is alight.
The position of the fire meant that firefighters were unable to access the space in which the fire was burning, instead having to tackle the fire from above the building using aerial platforms.
Chief fire officer David Johnson, said, "The blaze is generating a significant amount of smoke, but it is the same kind of smoke as that from a bonfire so we do not feel it will be necessary to evacuate across a wider area.
"We have had to isolate several high voltage power cables affected by the fire. At the moment we have significant resources on site – around 15 appliances with some 100 firefighters, three aerial ladder platforms, two command units."
An update at 10:30 revised this to 120 firefighters. The power station was closed down and all staff from the RWE npower-managed site accounted for.
Mr Johnson said that this fire was one of the most challenging that he has dealt with in his 20-year career due to the technical complexities of the building.
“The fuel goes into vats and is [taken] into the plant on a conveyor belt.
"The fuel cells are designed to carry dry fuel so pouring water onto them and making them significantly heavier could potentially damage the structure of the building. There is an added complication that when the cells get wet, then dried by the fire, a crust will develop making it impossible for more water to penetrate the fire underneath. That’s why we are looking to use foam.
"Crews are faced with extremely difficult access; the fire is in one of the highest points of the building.”
An unrelated fire was also reported at nearby Tilbury Docks, to which firefighters from London Fire Brigade had to be called, due to the large amount of manpower already in action at the power station.
Fire Authority Chairman, Councillor Anthony Hedley arrived at the scene in the afternoon. He said, "I have been very impressed by the way officers formulated a highly technical plan to tackle the blaze and the way in which firefighters on the ground went to work.
“This was a particularly challenging incident and one which demonstrates to the public the breadth of appliances and equipment available to our firefighters to deliver a top flight response.
“Incidents like this endorse the Fire Authority decision to purchase five aerial ladder platforms – with three employed at this incident, there were still two left to cover the rest of the County had they been needed."
Crews were eventually safe to be committed to the building just before 13:00, and continued managing the fire and heat with foam. By around 15:00 the fire was said to be under control
Over 24 hours later, crews were still operating in six pump teams, with regular relief, while removing the wood pellets from the hoppers.
