Authorities are still trying to ascertain whether a fire at a battery recycling centre owned by Portable Battery Recycling Ltd in Manchester, UK was arson or an accident.
The fire occurred on Sunday 23 February and involved multiple heavy goods vehicles fully engulfed in flames at the recycling plant, located in Roundthorn Industrial Estate in Wythenshawe.
Portable Battery Recycling calls itself “the UK’s only specialist portable battery recycler” and claims it wants to bring the high recycling rates of lead-acid batteries to other sectors.
On the Sunday morning, ten fire engines had rushed to get to the scene.
This was then scaled back as the blaze was tackled by four fire engines over three hours, according to Manchester Evening Post.
The fire also led to some homes in the area being evacuated, and residents had been advised to keep their doors and windows shut as smoke was visible for miles, it said.
Greater Manchester Police and North West Ambulance Service were also in attendance but confirmed to MotorTransport there were no casualties.
Greg Clementson, director at Portable Battery Recycling, said: “We are very grateful that neither any members of the teams who attended the incident nor any of our staff were injured, and that the impact upon the site and local area was minimal, apart from disruption at the time. We have focussed all our energies on getting the business and site back into an operational mode to ensure we can continue to provide our customers with the service they expect. The fire affected our two largest vehicles, but our smaller vehicles continued to make collections of waste batteries from Monday morning.”
Its fleet, which includes 10 other HGVs and vans, were making battery collections around the UK as usual after the fire, he said.
The firm is now conducting its own internal investigation into the cause of the fire and will implement any actions it sees fit in the future, he said.
A spokesperson for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue (GMFRS) said: “Shortly after 8.15am on Sunday 23 February, fire engines and specialist appliances from across Greater Manchester were called to attend a fire involving heavy goods vehicles and a commercial unit on Caldey Road, Manchester.”
“Crews arrived quickly and extinguished the fire using hose reel jets, an aerial ladder and other specialist equipment.”
Image: Smoke from the large fire involving heavy goods vehicles and Portable Battery Recycling Ltd facility in Manchester. Credit: Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue.
