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Smethwick blaze: fire chiefs tell public to stop using Chinese lanterns Smethwick blaze: fire chiefs tell public to stop using Chinese lanterns
(about 4 hours later)
Chief fire officers have called for an urgent review of the use of Chinese or paper lanterns across the UK after evidence emerged of one causing a major fire at a plastics recycling plant during which 10 firefighters were hurt. Chief fire officers have called for an urgent review of the use of Chinese or paper lanterns across the UK after evidence emerged of one causing a blaze at a plastics recycling plant in which 10 firefighters were injured.
The blaze, said to be one of the largest seen in the West Midlands, started late on Sunday night. At one stage, efforts to control it involved more than 200 firefighters from three fire services, nearly 40 fire engines and three hydraulic platforms. It also sent a plume of smoke 6,000ft high from the J&A Young plant at Smethwick, Birmingham. The blaze, said to be one of the largest ever in the West Midlands, started on Sunday night. More than 200 firefighters and nearly 40 fire engines tackled the fire, which sent a plume of smoke rising 2,000 metres (6,000ft) from the J&A Young plant at Smethwick, West Midlands.
As the firefighters managed to contain the incident to a 300 x 300 metre chunk of an industrial estate, Vijith Randeniya, the West Midlands' chief fire officer, said forensic investigations and CCTV footage suggested it had been caused by one of the "uncontrolled, unregulated" lanterns. "You put some fire in the sky, it lands in combustible material and you get a multimillion-pound incident like this," he said. As the fire – on an industrial estate – was contained, Vijith Randeniya, the West Midlands chief fire officer, said forensics investigations and CCTV footage suggested it had been caused by one of the "uncontrolled, unregulated" lanterns.
Randeniya is also president of the Chief Fire Officers' Association(CFOA) which has been looking closely at dangers caused by the lanterns. They are made of paper-covered wire or bamboo with an open-flame heat source – effectively miniature hot-air balloons – and have become a popular way to celebrate special occasions. But they have been condemned as a nuisance by fire services and animal charities. "You put some fire in the sky, it lands in combustible material and you get a multimillion-pound incident like this," he said. Randeniya is president of the Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA), which has been looking closely at the dangers posed by the paper lanterns – miniature hot-air balloons – which have become popular at celebrations. They have been condemned by fire services and animal charities.
The CFOA appealed to the public and event organisers not to use them. "Whilst these lanterns are undoubtedly a popular and beautiful sight, the potential damage they can cause is significant," it said. "These floating lanterns not only constitute a fire hazard but also pose a risk to livestock, agriculture, camping activities, thatched properties and hazardous material sites." The CFOA appealed to the public and event organisers not to use them. "Whilst these lanterns are undoubtedly a popular and beautiful sight, the potential damage they can cause is significant," it said. "These floating lanterns not only constitute a fire hazard but also pose a risk to livestock, agriculture, camping activities, thatched properties and hazardous material sites," it said.
Police and coastguards also spent time and money on having to deal with lantern sightings being mistaken as something else, such as a distress flare or UFOs. In Australia, there had been a temporary ban on all such products following a series of wildfires. Police and coastguards also spent time and money on having to deal with lanterns being mistaken for distress flares or even UFOs. There was a temporary ban in Australia after a series of wildfires. Police, fire and rescue services and civil aviation authorities should investigate the possibility of legal action over damage caused by the lanterns, said the CFOA.
Fire and rescue services should investigate with police and civil aviation authorities the possibility of taking legal action against those who caused damage by using such lanterns, said the CFAO. A wider row could be brewing on the issue after the government sought to dampen expectations of a review weeks after research by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, (Defra), which has refused pleas from agricultural bodies to ban the lanterns.
Randeniya's own service said it was urging community leaders and members of the public to discourage the use of the lanterns. "The risk of further fires can only increase as the lanterns become more popular … We believe there is wide scope for limiting the potential effects, use and design of such lanterns, and for the exploration of legal action being taken by people adversely affected by them. A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said the government was "working to raise public awareness of the risks of sky lanterns and users of these products are advised to follow manufacturers' instructions carefully." It would continue to monitor fire trends.
"We also question whether event licences should be issued for events from which it is planned to launch such lanterns." The DCLG said the results of the Defra-commissioned research, published in May, contained no real evidence of a "significant direct impact on consumer safety".
Randeniya said the fire was the 15th this year at a waste transfer site in his authority. He made a plea for fire services to avoid cuts. "Firefighting is a tough and dangerous job. That is why we train hard, why we resource well and why we would urge the government to retain the current financial levels," he said in a video played from the scene of the fire via the service's Twitter account. The department added: "In summers 2010 and 2011, the fire and rescue service recording system recorded only one incident caused by a fire lantern that caused any significant damage to a building - it is therefore very rare for a sky lantern to be the cause of a building fire. In 2012-13, English fire and rescue services attended over 100,000 outdoor fire incidents (grassland/woodland etc), of which sky lanterns were potentially responsible for around 200 fires (0.2% of all outdoor fires) – none of which caused substantial damage."
Randeniya said he expected firefighters to be on the scene until Tuesday. Only then can the difficult job of cleaning up the site begin. As the molten plastic hardens, it will require removal by mechanical diggers, he said. However, the report, written by the consultancy Adas, said the fire risk posed by lanterns was significant, that they could endanger aircraft (40 incidents were reported by the Civil Aviation Authority from 2001-12), and consumers needed better information from suppliers.
According to the fire service, two of the 10 firefighters injured were taken to hospital as a precaution. Injuries included heat exhaustion, injuries to eyes and an ankle, and a minor burn. The shadow environment secretary, Mary Creagh, said: "The government has spent £25,000 on a report into sky lanterns which found they are a significant fire risk, may hamper search and rescue services, and could pose a danger to aeroplanes. They also pose a risk to cattle that could be injured by them – yet the government has decided to do nothing. After the Smethwick fire, ministers must look at this issue again."
J&A Young(Leicester), which trades as Jayplas, claims to be the UK's largest plastics recycler. It also has two sites in Loughborough and one each in Derby and Manchester, with its main products being polythene refuse sacks. The company did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. Randeniya said that the fire was the 15th this year at a waste transfer site in his area. He also appealed against fire service cuts. "Firefighting is a tough and dangerous job. That is why we train hard, why we resource well and why we would urge the government to retain the current financial levels," he said in a video played from the scene of the fire via the service's Twitter account.
During the crisis, the fire service was in close contact with Birmingham international airport because of the potential for the huge smoke cloud to affect flights – although in the end there was no disruption. Local residents were advised to close their doors and windows, while motorists were warned to shut windows and air vents and turn off air-conditioning. The Environment Agency monitored the firefighting effort, especially water runoff into the local canal, but by mid-afternoon reported no fish in distress or other environmental impacts. He said he expected firefighters to be on the scene until Tuesday. Only then could the difficult job of cleaning up the site begin: as the molten plastic hardened, it would require removal by mechanical diggers, he said.
The fire service said two of the 10 injured firefighters had been taken to hospital as a precaution. Other injuries included heat exhaustion, eye injuries, a minor burn and an ankle injury.
J&A Young (Leicester), which trades as Jayplas, claims to be the UK's largest plastics recycler. It also has two sites in Loughborough and one each in Derby and Manchester. Its main products are polythene refuse sacks. The company did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.
The fire service was in close contact with Birmingham airport because of the huge smoke cloud but there was no disruption to flights. Local residents were advised to close their doors and windows, while motorists were warned to shut windows and air vents, and turn off air-conditioning. The Environment Agency monitored the firefighting effort, especially water runoff into the local canal, but by mid-afternoon reported no fish in distress or other environmental impacts.
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