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‘Business as usual’ despite two fires at Stoke HWRC

Stoke-on-Trent city council says it is “business as usual” at its Burslem household waste recycling centre (HWRC) despite two separate fires at the Federation Road site on 4 February.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue says it received reports that an industrial building containing waste was well alight in Burslem at just after 2am on 4 February (picture: Shutterstock)

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue says it received reports that a three-bay industrial building containing a “large amount” of household waste was “well alight” in Burslem at just after 2am on Saturday.

The fires each began within bays containing a “minimal” amount of recyclate, the council says, and the fire service was able to bring them under control that same day.

Though nobody was hurt, there was some damage to a transfer station, the council says.

However, the council says the damage will not impact collections and the site returned to “full working order” today (7 February), after being cleared yesterday.

A council spokesperson told letsrecycle.com: “Operations are continuing as normal and there is no impact to residents or the public using the wider site.”

The cause of the fires is unknown. “Relevant teams” from the council and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue are taking the “appropriate steps” to work out how the fire started, the local authority says.

Burslem

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue says it sent crews equipped with breathing apparatus and hose reel jets from Sandyford, Hanley and Cannock to the scene early on Saturday morning.

The crews brought the blaze under control by 5.50am without causing any injuries to anyone in the area, the fire service says.

The fire service estimates there were around 35 tonnes of domestic waste inside the building, though not all of it was alight at the time.

At 8.15am, crews began tackling a second fire involving a waste bay, the fire service says, which was quickly extinguished. Crews remained at the scene to check if any hotspots were left.

Burslem is one of two HWRCs the in-house council team operates within Stoke, the other being Hanford.

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