“Steady progress” is being made on an Rainham industrial estate fire which has been alight for 48 hours.
The blaze at Shanks waste plant in Creek Way, Rainham, saw more than 80 firefighters at the scene extinguishing in excess of 2,500 tonnes of recycling at its peak.
A London Fire Brigade spokesman said that resources have been reduced and around 20 firefighters remain at the scene. He would not say that the blaze is under control however.
“They are still damping down deep-seated pockets of fire,” he said. “I would not be surprised if we are there for the rest of the day.”
The blaze has been reduced to 100 tonnes of rubbish, he added.
Crews from all over London had to be drafted in to give relief to local teams that began tackling the fire at around 9.30am on Monday.
Following the onset of the blaze, Wennington fire station’s manager Laurie Kenny warned residents to stay away from the site.
He said: “Crews are working hard and have prevented the fire from spreading to any neighbouring buildings.
“As the recycling plant is on an industrial estate, there are no nearby houses but there is a lot of smoke which is drifting quite a distance and can be seen for miles. If you live locally, shut your windows and doors.”
One resident witnessed the extent of the smoke coming from the fire and described its stench as “rancid”.
“I work on the industrial estate nearby and all you can see is smoke,” James Green, 37, of Rainham, said.
“It’s probably about 100 feet high and it smell is unbelievably horrible. The stench is rancid.”
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Rainham waste blaze spreads to 2,500 tonnes of recyclingRainham waste recycling plant fire smells ‘rancid’
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