Fire crews tackle fire at Cemex
The Environment Agency, Warwickshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service and Rugby Borough Council are working together to deal with a fire in the Climafuel store at the Cemex Rugby cement works.
The incident began with a small fire in the new Climafuel store yesterday afternoon which the fire brigade attended and quickly brought under control. However the fire continued to smoulder overnight resulting in emissions of smoke from the site which have affected businesses on the Paynes Lane industrial estate.
Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Services Incident Commander, Ian Tonner said:
“We were called to a building fire at 13.05 on Tuesday 15 June. The fire was quickly brought under control. However, due to the nature of the materials stored, it was still smouldering today causing a smoke plume near the site. Crews remain on site damping down and are expecting to be on-site throughout tonight.”
The Environment Agency and Rugby Borough Council have received a number of complaints about odour and fumes from the fire. A number of callers have mentioned a smell of burning rubber but this is likely to be from equipment in the building. Although the Cemex plant is permitted to burn waste tyres none are involved in the fire.
Climafuel consists mainly of paper, card, plastic and rags from municipal waste and similar industrial and commercial wastes which have been treated to remove recyclable materials. The colour of the smoke plume is likely to change with the density of the smoke. This does not mean that the content of the smoke has changed. The substances in the smoke are likely to be similar to those from a vehicle or house fire.
Cemex are clearing material from the unaffected half of the store to allow Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service to drench the seat of the fire to fully extinguish it.
Environment Agency Officers are on site monitoring the situation. There has been no long term impact on the environment. The drains have been blocked and water from extinguishing the fire will be kept on site until it can been tested and disposed of appropriately.