Ferocious fire at Preston waste facility started by a rechargeable battery

Tuesday, 7 November 2023 11:13

A ferocious fire that melted metal at a waste facility near Preston at the weekend was caused by a rechargeable battery.

Just before 5pm on Saturday, November 4, staff at the Farington Waste Recovery Park called the fire and rescue service after the fire started in a metal storage skip. It took firefighters around two hours to put out the blaze, which may have been accelerated by traces of oils and greases contained in the items.

This is the latest in a series of fires causes by batteries across Lancashire's waste facilities. At Preston Transfer Station, one blaze in June affected around one tonne of cardboard and a few months previously, in April, one caused around 40 tonnes of recycling products to be lost as they had to be disposed of.

County Councillor Shaun Turner, cabinet member for Environment and Climate Change said: "It is so important that all lithium ion/rechargeable batteries are disposed of in the right way, as this is the third blaze this year started by one at our sites.

"They can cause fires if they are damaged or crushed, leading to potentially deadly consequences – and this can occur at any time, as this fire in a storage skip demonstrates.

"Batteries of all sizes can explode and set off fires, making them a very difficult item to handle. Please recycle these responsibly – including ones in items you may not have considered, such as vapes, electric toothbrushes and singing birthday cards.’’