Tests are being carried out at Axil Integrated Services at Cannock Industrial Centre, in Walkmill Lane, Bridgtown, Cannock, Canada after materials in the yard broke into flames and smoke early Monday morning.
The blaze was tackled by more than 40 firefighters, and residents living in nearby properties in Haling Way said they were evacuated from their homes by the emergency services shortly after 6:30 a.m.
“There’s been a fire at a waste transfer site,” said Staffordshire Fire & Rescue station manager Dan Keeling. “At its height there were eight appliances. The incident has been scaled down as the fire is under control.
“The cause is still under investigation, but is believed to be accidental. there are a lot of chemicals on the site , some are reactive with water. It is possible that the cause may be related to the weather as we had the thunderstorm, but until we look into it further we won’t know for certain,” he said.
Firefighters are working with the owners and the Environmental Agency on the clean-up operation.
“Some of the residents were evacuated for a short period. We will be advising them to keep windows closed,” Keeling said.
A Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service spokesman said, “at 6:20 a.m. today, the service received reports of a large fire in the forecourt of an industrial unit on Walkmill Lane.
“The facility contained a large number of highly flammable chemicals which had ignited as a result of the blaze. Crews from Rugeley, Burton, Stafford, Stone, Cannock and Hanley were sent to the scene alongside colleagues from Staffordshire Police and immediately began to evacuate residential homes on Haling Way and surrounding areas.”
A fire, that may have been ignited by a thunder and lightning storm, broke out at the Cannock chemical waste transfer station.
Source: @kelmaddox, left, @burtonuk, right
By 8:20 a.m., the incident was scaled down, leaving crews from Rugeley and Stafford at the scene, fire officials said.
A spokesperson for waste site operators Axil said, “as reported, there has been a fire at our Cannock Waste Transfer Station this morning. Our team is working closely with Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and the Environment Agency to closely monitor and control the situation.
“We will conduct a thorough investigation to ensure we understand the causes of this as soon as possible. We would like to express our thanks to all parties involved, for all of their efforts since the fire broke out early this morning and to the local residents for co-operating with the incident responders and following their guidance.”