Hampshire crews tackle recycling centre fire in Portsmouth

Firefighters from across Hampshire were mobilised to a fire at a recycling centre at Anchorage Park, Bolde Close, Portsmouth today at 11:55. The fire was located in waste on the mezzanine level of the nine-storey building, involving paper, plastic and metals.

Crews from Cosham, Southsea, Portchester, Havant, Wickham and Fareham attended, and a total of 17 BA were used in circulation, as well as four jets, two hose reel jets, one LLP and one ALP. Some local area flooding was also attended to during this response.

The Incident Commander, Station Manager, Lacey Plumbley shares:

“…A massive thank you to the crews for their hard work and commitment in dealing with this difficult incident so quickly and effectively. This was a challenging situation due to the sheer volume of waste products involved, the size and complex layout of the building as well as the environmental issues to be considered. I would also like to thank our colleagues from both HART and SCAS for supporting our firefighters at the scene”.

Lacey also added that the sprinkler system installed at the recycling centre held the fire under control sufficiently long enough enabling our firefighting teams to undertake a quick, effective attack and ultimately extinguish the fire. This combination of tactics undoubtedly saved the building.

Assistant Director of Operations Dan Tasker praised Veolia for their installation of sprinklers throughout the building. Dan told us that the installation of well-maintained sprinkler systems is a well-documented and proven means by which to effectively protect a building from fire spread; adding significant support to an organisation’s fire safety and business continuity strategy.

A reinspection has being carried out this evening by Cosham crew.

Stop messaged was received at 16:58.

For more information about sprinkler systems in the UK, please follow this NFCC link: Sprinklers in the UK (nationalfirechiefs.org.uk)