ANOTHER PLASTICS FACTORY DESTROYED FOLLOWING HUGE FIRE
A major incident was declared when fire engulfed and completely destroyed an unsprinklered plastics factory in Hessle, East Yorkshire. The devastating blaze consumed about 300 tonnes of rigid plastic and required a multi-agency response to the plant which is nestled amongst residential properties.
The fire on November 24th required 150 firefighters, 10 appliances and specialist equipment including aerial ladder platforms and high-volume pumps from Humberside Fire and Rescue Service to tackle the blaze at Bridgewood UK’s plastic products factory near Hull. Local residents reported hearing explosions and the fire sent plumes of toxic black smoke above Hull and across the River Humber.
While staff escaped the blaze unharmed, the impact on the local community and environment was significant with local road closures, residents forced to evacuate their homes due to harmful smoke and a number of measures employed to minimise the impact of pollution to the local environment.
The fire event developed high volumes of smoke and was monitored by the Environment Agency. Furthermore, fire water run-off in local watercourses required monitoring. Whilst the disposal of the destroyed 8-10,000m2 building will cause an adverse environmental impact, the materials and resources required to repair and rebuild it will incur significant financial costs.
Ten days after the fire, 120 staff employed at the factory were laid off due to the closure of the factory and the fact the
business is no longer trading. This prompted a local food wholesaler to offer temporary jobs to those left out of work over the Christmas period.
This follows a recent plastic factory fire this year. In September a fire destroyed the operations at Capital Valley Plastics in Wales. What is left of the Capital Valley Plastics building is currently being demolished before works can start to consider rebuilding.
History shows that fire can have an impact on business. In the same business area, it was clearly highlighted during a blaze at Total Polyfilm, a plastics manufacturer similar to Bridgewood, in 2016. The business failed to fully-recover from the devastating blaze, which took place at the firm’s plastic film factory in Bamber Bridge, near Preston. After the rebuild of the factory the business subsequently went into administration in 2019 with the loss of over 200 jobs.
Contrast the total loss of the Bridgewood Plastics and Total Polyfilm factories to a fire that happened in February 2016 at a similar plastics manufacturer (BPI) in the West Country. The company returned to operation within 24 hours. The difference being that the BPI factory had a sprinkler system that contained the fire.
Preventing large costly fires is possible through a combination of strategies. One of the most effective methods is the use of sprinkler systems which contain and control fires before the Fire and Rescue Service arrives. They therefore minimise the wider impact of unmanageable fires, reducing costs to business and the economy as a whole. Importantly, by limiting any fire damage, they allow businesses to resume operations quickly, often within hours of the incident.