The cause of a major blaze at a scrapyard in Kirkdale last year is thought to have been established.
In September last year, more than a dozen fire engines battled a massive inferno at Norton Scrap and Co for almost two days with around 150 scrap cars set alight. A report to Liverpool Council’s neighbourhoods committee has detailed the findings of a meeting held in March between its own public health and emergency planning bodies, the Environment Agency (EA) and neighbouring local authorities into the fire at the Bank Hall Street location.
The blaze impacted an area of 50m x 20m and firefighters warned residents to close doors and windows owing to poor air quality. The report said: “The subsequent fire investigation found that the fire originated in the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) pile and the likely ignition source had been a discarded Lithium-Ion battery.”
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An investigation was launched as to whether correct procedures were in place at the time of the fire. The EA shared details of a plan compiled by Merseyside Fire and Rescue (MFRS) including a move to process waste at the site daily to “limit the growth and size of a fire, reduce fire spread from pile to pile, and it would decrease the impact on MFRS resources, local community and the environment.”
The report added that while there was thermal imaging installed at Norton's to identify hot spots in the WEEE stockpile, “it had not been fully in use and blind spots on the site meant that management were not always aware of possible incidents such that they could be addressed more urgently.” In addition, a review of access to the site by appliances and sources of water were identified so that in the event of a fire, response to the fire and better control of the fire could be achieved more quickly.
Regular site visits to Norton’s have been introduced and should the operator breach conditions of its permit, it could face enforcement action which could include an increased fee and deadlines for remedial actions to be taken. Should these not be met, legal action could be considered.
The report said: “It was agreed that clear lines of communication between the operators of waste metal facilities and the various agencies such as the MFRS were needed when incidents such as the Norton's fire occurred, as it was clear this hadn’t been the case in the September 2021 incident. This was evidenced by the fact that notification of the fire to the MFRS came from a member of public dialling 999.”
Upgrades to Norton’s thermal imaging system have been made as well as an increase of staff on site outside of regular business hours to increase awareness of potential incidents before they occur. The report said the EA and Liverpool Council’s environmental health team “need to work closer together on all site within Kirkdale permitted by the EA that have a fire risk.”
In addition, the council’s environmental health team will undertake regular visits to Kirkdale to assess “smaller unauthorised businesses” that can cause issues and “will act where appropriate.” Members of the neighbourhoods committee will consider the report and its findings during its meeting next week.
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