Following on from our recent post about how to prevent a fire breaking out in your skip, an article in The Standard highlights how easy it is for a waste fire to get out of control. According to the article, a huge blaze at a waste disposal site in Leyton, East London, has taken over 70 London Firefighters to get it under control. The rubbish that caught fire is estimated to be over 1000 tonnes so it’s no surprise that firefighters had to battle the blaze all through the night to get it under control.
The large waste fire in #Leyton is now under control. Fire crews will be on site throughout the night damping down pockets of fire to ensure there’s no smouldering or reignition. https://t.co/KYPBgIoWnt pic.twitter.com/pedIvG0nKF
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 12, 2018
The huge blaze, which could be seen for miles around, started shortly after 5pm yesterday (12th July 2018) right next door to the Leyton Orient football ground. As you can see from the pictures, the horrendous fire created huge plumes of smoke and 10 fire engines attended the blaze at the waste management site in Auckland Road, where it was deemed necessary to use mechanical diggers to create fire breaks to stop it spreading.
Firefighters continue to work on the large waste fire in #Leyton. Mechanical diggers are being used to make fire breaks to prevent the fire spreading. Our firefighter at the scene says it’s likely to be a protracted incident. https://t.co/KYPBgIoWnt pic.twitter.com/Sv2ubjBbns
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) July 12, 2018
The fire was so large, one user on Twitter said that they could even see it from beyond Tottenham Hotspur’s ground in North London.
Whilst the cause of the fire isn’t yet known, it’s thankfully now under control thanks to the great work by the fire crews. Again, it highlights how important it is to be mindful of how easy fires can start in the dry, tinderbox weather we’re still basking in throughtout London and the UK.