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Smethwick fire: Government rejects lantern ban Smethwick fire: Government rejects lantern ban
(about 3 hours later)
The government has rejected the idea of a ban on Chinese lanterns after one was found to have caused a fire at West Midlands recycling plant.The government has rejected the idea of a ban on Chinese lanterns after one was found to have caused a fire at West Midlands recycling plant.
About 60 firefighters remain at the fire involving 100,000 tonnes of plastic material in Smethwick.About 60 firefighters remain at the fire involving 100,000 tonnes of plastic material in Smethwick.
The Liberal Democrats president is calling for the lanterns to be banned. The MP for Warley, John Spellar, is calling for the lanterns to be banned but the government said the number of fires they caused were "very small."
He said he also wants tighter controls on the storage of recyclable materials.
"The sheer amount of plastic stored together meant the fire spread rapidly through such a large site," Mr Spellar said.
"There is a real safety issue as to the amount of combustible material that is stored in one place and the Environment Agency needs to review that very urgently."
'Learn the lessons'
Investigators established a lantern, captured on CCTV falling on to the site, was to blame for the blaze.
Mr Spellar said he had written to the fire minister, Brandon Lewis, calling for lanterns to be banned.
"People are sending these fires into the air not knowing where they're going to land, it really is a massive risk," he said.
The region's chief fire officer, Vij Randeniya, has also called for a review to be conducted into their use.
A Downing Street spokesman said there "needed to be a proportionate response" and the number of fires caused by Chinese lanterns was "very small".A Downing Street spokesman said there "needed to be a proportionate response" and the number of fires caused by Chinese lanterns was "very small".
More than 200 firefighters attended the blaze, which began on Sunday night. Three were taken to hospital. More than 200 firefighters attended the blaze, which began on Sunday night and caused £6m worth of damage.
Twelve were treated for injuries, three of whom were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The blaze, which covered an area of about 90,000 sq m, was described by the fire service as one of the biggest it had dealt with in the West Midlands.The blaze, which covered an area of about 90,000 sq m, was described by the fire service as one of the biggest it had dealt with in the West Midlands.
Most of the fire has been extinguished but about 10% of the site is still alight. It said it was the 15th fire at similar sites it had dealt with in the past year.
'Harm's way' David Hudson from the Environment Agency said it would be investigating to see whether the fire could have been prevented.
Investigators established a lantern, captured on CCTV falling on to the site, was to blame for the blaze. He said: "There have been a number of these in recent weeks and clearly we need to look at that and learn the lessons.
The region's chief fire officer, Vij Randeniya, has called for a review to be conducted into their use. 'Breaking point'
He said: "My firefighters could have been doing something else rather than fighting a fire like that which they really put themselves in harm's way for a number of hours to save a whole range of buildings. "It's not acceptable to us that these fires just happen we need to do something to reduce the incidents.
"We'd like to keep business in business, there's an impact on the environment, there's a risk to firefighters." "We will be working closely with the fire service to manage the risk."
The Liberal Democrats President has said the lanterns should be banned. Chris Jones, from the Waste Industry Safety and Health Forum (WISH) said preventing fires at recycling plants was a complex problem.
Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, said: "There's been a lot of concern in rural areas and the farming community about the impact on livestock, on crops for many years and now we have an incident like this in an urban area. He said "You can't just go and install sprinklers on sites this big.
"I think the evidence does point to a ban." "[Sites like this] can be made as safe as they possibly can but you can't have something completely without risk, because of the types of materials being stored, it's completely unobtainable."
West Midlands Fire service said £6m of damage had been caused to the Dartmouth Road site by the fire which was the 15th of its kind at a waste recycling site in the region this year. West Midlands Fire Service said most of the fire had been extinguished but about 10% of the site was still alight.
Plant machinery has been used to break up the bales of plastic to get to the seat of the fire. It said at the height of the fire on Sunday night it had "just one fire engine left on standby".
'Wisps of smoke' Fire Brigades Union general secretary, Matt Wrack, said: "The Smethwick fire stretched the service to absolute breaking point."
Area commander Steve Vincent, said crews had made "good progress" tackling the fire. "[We are concerned] that a number of fire engines that attended the incident are due to be cut, so the question is how would West Midlands Fire Service have responded to a fire like this if it was next month?"
"It's been quite arduous for our firefighters overnight because there's still lots of plastic to dig out to make sure we can get to the bottom because it burns underneath," he said. West Midlands fire service announced plans in April to shed 34 firefighter jobs and decommission four engines next month.
"Seeing it from afar you'll just see wisps of smoke but there's lots of activity going on on the site to get this completely put out. The fire service said it hoped to partially re-open surrounding roads, Dartmouth Road, Halfords Lane and Brasshouse Lane, later.
"We've still got two high-volume pumping units which are taking water from the canals and one of those is from Staffordshire."
The service said it hoped to partially re-open surrounding roads, Dartmouth Road, Halfords Lane and Brasshouse Lane later.
Nearby Galton Valley Primary School, in Brasshouse Lane, was closed for a second consecutive day.Nearby Galton Valley Primary School, in Brasshouse Lane, was closed for a second consecutive day.
The West Midlands Ambulance Service said it treated 12 firefighters for a variety of minor injuries on Monday. Three were taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
A service spokesman said a member of public was also treated for cuts after climbing on a fence and a paramedic was still on duty at the site.
The Environment Agency (EA) said most of the water had been contained and "pumped to foul sewer".
David Hudson, the EA's environment manager for the West Midlands, tweeted: "Small pockets of low oxygen in canal. Not significant enough to need oxygen support at the moment."