UK Wood Recycling plant blaze at Wilton cost Cleveland Fire Brigade £235,000

Fire involved 16,000 tonnes of waste wood stored at the site :: The most likely cause of the 16-day blaze was the stack self-heating and igniting

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UK Wood Recycling Plant blaze

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A huge blaze at a Teesside wood recycling plant cost Cleveland Fire Brigade £235,000.

Following a probe into the 16-day fire at UK Wood Recycling’s Wilton site near Redcar, the brigade has released the details of their findings.

“The most likely cause of the fire was the stack self-heating and igniting,” said Dave Turton, head of fire engineering with Cleveland Fire Brigade.

It has also been estimated that the cost of dealing with the huge blaze was £235,000.

The fire flared on December 23 last year and involved 16,000 tonnes of waste wood stored at the site for recycling into various products, including biomass fuel.

Firefighters from both Cleveland Fire Brigade and from SembCorp Utilities’ own fire service battled the blaze.

Because of the amount of wood involved, the brigade opted to allow the fire to burn itself out, so helping reduce the impact of the smoke on the local areas. But several areas were badly affected by thick smoke clouds for days, prompting complaints from locals.

In the closing stages, firefighters were then in a position to dampen down the stack of wood and eventually extinguished the fire using jets and monitors. Mr Turton said: “Following the fire, we have held meetings with UK Wood and our key partner organisations to see whether any lessons can be learned.

“As a result, the company has been advised that the stack sizes should be compliant with the appropriate guidance in future which will reduce the risk of a fire and protracted disruption to the local neighbourhood.”

Speaking previously, Redcar and Cleveland Council leader Councillor George Dunning said: “We maintained contact with all agencies during the fire and, at a multi-agency meeting on December 30, we requested further meetings to identify what lessons have been learnt and what improvements can be made in the future.

“We are aware of the impact the fire at UK Wood Recycling has had on the area and obviously want to be reassured that this won’t happen again.”

During the blaze, fed-up residents in nearby areas - especially in Dormanstown - were urged to close their windows and doors. Some said burnt embers fell “like snowflakes” in a snowstorm. In high winds, plumes of smoke also closed the A1085 Trunk Road.

No one from UK Wood Recycling was available for comment.