Release date: 6 September 2024
West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service remains in attendance at the scene of a fire involving a waste services site at Grevatts Lane in Climping.
Work has been progressing throughout the week to bring the fire to conclusion, a number of pockets of fire remain which we expect to be fully extinguished by the end of the weekend.
While this incident is ongoing our advice to residents living nearby who may be impacted by the smoke is to continue to keep doors and windows closed.
When the wind direction takes the plume away from properties, residents should open doors and windows and use the increase in air quality as an opportunity to bring fresh air into the home.
Waste fires are usually complex incidents, but this incident has been made even more challenging by managing considerations around public health, environmental concerns, the large amount of compacted waste involved in the fire, and the significant structural collapse of the building onto the fire itself, which has prevented the water being able to penetrate directly onto the smouldering waste underneath.
The process of excavating and piling the waste is also difficult due to the size of the site.
Fire crews will remain at the scene into the weekend and we have now entered the demolition phase of the incident. We will not stand down our resources until we are satisfied that the fire is completely extinguished and there is no risk of it re-igniting.
We are in constant communication with our partners, such as the Environment Agency, UKHSA and public health to ensure that those with health and safety responsibilities are satisfied with the amount of smoke issuing from the site, and that they have no concerns.
We are also regularly monitoring the Met Office's reports to track the wind direction and observe the impact this has on the smoke plume.
When the fire at a waste services site in took hold on Friday 30 August, it rapidly developed due to the involvement of waste materials inside the structure, and the building structure itself significantly collapsed on top of the burning waste during the early stages of the fire. This caused a large smoke plume which could be seen for miles.
Fire crews and West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service’s Waste Tactical Adviser worked with the Environment Agency, Sussex Police and on-site representatives to make a full risk assessment of the situation, which considered the risk to life, property and the environment, and formulated a plan.
We then received advice from the Environment Agency, recommending that we let the fire burn under control instead of using large amounts of water. At the time, there was a significant risk that the water would run-off into the adjacent Ryebank Rife, which could directly affect the water course and its users, and the wider environment.
Due to these environmental risk factors, the adjacent water course needed to be bunded with the use of heavy machinery, to contain any contaminated water run-off and avoid polluting the Ryebank Rife.
The business owner sourced specialist excavation machinery to block off access to the water courses. We have since been able to apply more water to the fire, which has aided the extinguishing. No water from the site is being released - it is all being contained, taken away and correctly disposed of hourly. We estimated that hundreds of thousands of litres of water have been taken away from the site.
There was also a need to source heavy machinery to remove the collapsed structure from the fire, and to begin the complex and protracted process of excavating the waste materials that were fully involved in fire. Therefore, a plan and strategy was agreed between West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, the Environment Agency, the business owner and the site owner.
For this, we had to get an external advisor to carry out an assessment of the structural integrity of the building. This identified and determined the safe working areas for fire service personnel and the machine operators to carry out excavations and dismantle the structure.
