UPDATE: Sevenoaks Way recycling plant fire under control

12:10pm Monday 18th March 2013 in News By Robert Fisk

A DIGGER is being used by firefighters working to put out a blaze at a recycling plant off Sevenoaks Way.

The machine is being used to turn over the waste and put out any smouldering patches at the premises in Cornwall Drive, St Paul’s Cray.

Six fire engines were called to the scene at around 5.50am to deal with the blaze affecting 6,000 tonnes of recycled waste.

Three fire engines remain at the site.

The fire affected traffic with one lane of the A224 closed southbound between the A223 Edgington Way / A20 Sidcup By-Pass Road (Crittal's Corner) and Midfield Way, St Paul's Cray, during the rush hour.

Have you seen the fire or taken any pictures? Contact News Shopper by email or text 80360 starting your message with NEWS SHOPPER.

In December 2011 a fire at a waste site in the same road caused chaos as it burned for three days.

Sevenoaks Way was shut down during the incident which caused an estimated £200,000 to the business.

Comments(42)

madras says...
9:44am Mon 18 Mar 13

Is this the same place that had the serious fire last year (I think) that burned for about a week?

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Gypo.Joe says...
10:02am Mon 18 Mar 13

"Only" 6 fire engines, it must only be a very very small fire then. ;)

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bdm2010 says...
11:24am Mon 18 Mar 13

yeh madras same place

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kentlad says...
12:26pm Mon 18 Mar 13

I thought the company had their licence taking away from the last fire, or has another company taken over? either way who ever is responsible obviously arent taking due care or was it arson?? no doubt we will soon find out!

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dag says...
2:15pm Mon 18 Mar 13

I am not surprised. That pile of rubbish has been visible like a small mountain from Crittalls roundabout for the past few weeks. A huge eyesore. I imagine the only way to reduce it was to set fire to it.

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Stormchaser says...
3:17pm Mon 18 Mar 13

2nd time for that site, Opposite a large school, Makes you wonder what the kids are breathing in along with the smoke !!

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banjo8 says...
3:28pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Definitely the same place that went up before - if I remember correctly the smoke closed the A20 for several days.
And, agree totally, the way the rubbish was piling up it was olnly a matter of time before someone got handy with the matches - cheap way to shift it.
And, Gypo Joe you must be psychic, I counted six engines, though two were only being used to slow the traffic down. What is it about the emergency services that they have to slow down commuting traffic just to prove they're doing a worthwhile job!

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Gypo.Joe says...
4:08pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Banjo all these engines that now show up at small fires is the FB Unions way of trying to show a shortage of logistics/ man power ( water fairies ) to try to justify their case with the cut backs fight.

The officer in charge needs to send half of them back to the firestation to play pool or sleep.

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banjo8 says...
4:15pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Gypo - Now you're just trying to creep round the editor by agreeing with him about firemen. We all know what they're up to, but I don't care how many engines they send. What I object to is the way they use them to purposely hold up commuters (even though they don't need to) so they can play up how important they are.
It's the same on the roads with the highways jobsworths. A lorry crashed off the M20 the other day and was way off the carriageway but they still closed the motorway. There was no injury and no danger so they could easily have let the rush hour pass. Ideally they could have waited to 3am when no-one was about and wouldn't be affected - oh no, wait a minute, that's no good, no-one would see how important they are.

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highway warrior says...
4:31pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Only a week or so ago I commented to my other half about it, that'll go up again soon. Lo and behold it has, the company who run that site are a disgrace and the poor residents living down that little road. Shut it down and fine them. I hope the owners are paying for the expense of the emergency services.

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Gypo.Joe says...
4:46pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Banjo its called trying to justify their jobs. Full of their own p1ss and importance. Look at me syndrome.

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dontpannic says...
9:09pm Mon 18 Mar 13

Right-o, so we get rid of firefighters then. Glad that's been sorted between the both of you.

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casper999 says...
9:47pm Mon 18 Mar 13

dontpannic wrote:
Right-o, so we get rid of firefighters then. Glad that's been sorted between the both of you.
Yea both got it sorted between them,
Seeing these large stack of rubbish etc, this was fire waiting to happen,
6 Pumps, maybe they called in more resources to stop this fire spreading, also this maybe for water, last fire, water was pump from a distance, then you need more pumps to assist in pumping water.
Fire engines blocking the road ?, Cornwall drive is not a large road to fit all fire engines attending, also parked blocking off a lane for crew safety.
A few years ago, a fire engine from sidcup was attending a fire on A20 swanley by pass, when the rear of the engine was hit by HGV lucky no one hurt.

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banjo8 says...
12:25pm Tue 19 Mar 13

No-one's suggesting they should do anything which puts anyone in danger.
But when they'd finished with at least three of these engines they parked them part on the pavement and part on the road down the main drag - this caused massive traffic congestion. These could easily have been moved to across the road where there is plenty of space to park them without causing any inconvenience. I don't always agree with Gypo Joe, but he's right on this one - this is all about them saying we're here, we're doing a good job, why should we suffer cuts like everyone else?

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dontpannic says...
12:47pm Tue 19 Mar 13

banjo - the point is that a team is assigned to a particular appliance. If the team is still required on site (which being a large fire, they would be), how do you expect the appliances to return to the base?

In cases such as these, additional equipment may be required. Sure - they could have parked the appliance on the other side of the road - but then I bet you'd complain if they needed an additional hose quickly and had to run it across the road, or even needing equipment from the appliance, they'd have to be constantly crossing the road.

At the end of the day, unless you were there watching the 'spare' appliances for the duration of the fire, you don't know just how much equipment is needed and how often from each fire engine.

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banjo8 says...
1:33pm Tue 19 Mar 13

The way they were parked in the position they were in, it would have taken more effort to turn them round and get them back to the fire than if they'd been parked over the road. You can spout on all you like about operational details, but this was done to cause a fuss and say look at us everyone, we're doing an important job and firefighters shouldn't be cut.

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dontpannic says...
1:54pm Tue 19 Mar 13

I find it difficult to believe that anyone could jump to such a hideous conclusion such as that - the services don't park their vehicles to show how important a job they're doing.

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Oldchap says...
1:54pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Getting back to the dump - no doubt they have to pay to dispose of all the rubbish, so if it burns they save a fortune

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Gypo.Joe says...
2:13pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Well lets all hope the firemans sleep pattern wasn't disrupted by this rubbish fire. I'm sure all 70+ of them were working flat out all day long.

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banjo8 says...
2:35pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Never mind their sleep patterns, we need to worry that their ranking in the local pool league will have slipped. Or perhaps volleyball practice will have been disrupted.
I would be interested to know if the company running this site has to pay the fire service for attending and, if they do, I'd love to know what the bill is for this number of fireman for this number of hours?

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Gypo.Joe says...
2:41pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Banjo if they paid fireman for the actual work done/achieved, I doubt they would make minimum wage. Mind that said they do a lot of cleaning and should be paid cleaners rates.
Now if they paid them for pool shots or basketball dunks they would no doubt be on 50 pund an hour.

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banjo8 says...
3:14pm Tue 19 Mar 13

The thing is I'm actually not anti-firemen. The thing I can't stand is that they really seem to believe they deserve special treatment. There are lots of us who work long hours, in stressful jobs but we just get on with it. Getting paid while you sleep, now that's a job worth having - particulalrly if there's still enough time left to do the window cleaning round.

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dag says...
7:59pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Passed by there this afternoon and the fire was still smouldering. Could smell the awful acrid smoke at quite a distance. Fire truck still there. I am wondering if this tip pays for the fire to be put out or is it down to the local residents. There is still a massive heap of waste left though so the fire wasn't too successful in reducing it.

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banjo8 says...
9:59pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Does anyone know if the owner of the tip will have to pay for having the fire controlled?

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banjo8 says...
8:55am Wed 20 Mar 13

OMG - not content with the chaos they've caused so far, they've now upped the stakes by running hoses across the roundabout at Crittalls Corner. This further slows up commuters while four fireman can sit on the back of the truck, cracking jokes and laughing at the length of the traffic queues they're causing.

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Gypo.Joe says...
9:52am Wed 20 Mar 13

This is a fine example Banjo, we could get a couple of half wits on minimum wage to watch a hired pump and watch the traffic.

We need to get these firepersons back to the station so they can sleep or partake in the leisure facilities there.

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kentlad says...
1:09pm Wed 20 Mar 13

under control??? of course it is thats why its still smoking like a gooden and caused grey clouds to spread all over sevenoaks way yesterday causing poor visability and anyone near it having to breath the crap in...... seriously three days!!!!!

i passed the scene a few times on my travels yesterday and the same bold firemen were sitting on the back of the fire truck watching the traffic go by.

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banjo8 says...
2:15pm Wed 20 Mar 13

They must be sitting around if it's taken three days to put out. Blimey, Red Adair used to put out whole oilfields quicker than that. Even Fireman Sam was more effective than this lot.

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Gypo.Joe says...
2:49pm Wed 20 Mar 13

You forget Red Adair did not belong to the Union brother Banjo.
He wuz a scab.

Back to this fire, I'm sure once the overtime has been well and truly milked for all its worth the fire will just subside.
Questions should be asked as to who set it alight. Who has earned a nice few quid out of it in O/T. Say nah more !!

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Slonik says...
9:05pm Wed 20 Mar 13

The reason it's taking so long is probably the same as last time. There are several lakes fed by the River Cray behind the mountain of rubbish and the authorities have to try to prevent it being polluted.

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banjo8 says...
9:14pm Wed 20 Mar 13

Who's paying for the army of firemen, all those engines etc, etc to attend day after day and how much is it costing? It must be tens of thousands of pounds already? NS should get onto the firemen and find out what it's costing or at least ask how much longer they think it will go on. I've been held up getting to work three days in a row and getting home wasn't much fun tonight either - it's a joke.

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Marty1979 says...
7:29am Thu 21 Mar 13

If the fire's "under control" since Monday, how come it hasn't been put out?

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banjo8 says...
4:52pm Thu 21 Mar 13

Is it still burning?

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reasonable75 says...
5:45pm Thu 21 Mar 13

They gave it out on this morning's travel report

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Marty1979 says...
8:10pm Thu 21 Mar 13

Just gone past - still smoke across Sevenoaks Way, couple of fire engines

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Gypo.Joe says...
9:30pm Thu 21 Mar 13

Cha ching, cha ching, cha ching.

That's the sound of the till ringing up the firemans O/T bill.

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Petra69 says...
9:00am Fri 22 Mar 13

Well time that Bromley Council shut this place down for good

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banjo8 says...
11:53am Fri 22 Mar 13

Forget Dan Hartman in the 1970s or even regurgitated versions by Take That and Lulu, this is a classic case of 'Relight my Fire'. I reckon they're using a new box of matches each day, the firefighters must be raking it in.
But, WHO'S PAYING FOR IT?

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monday 7 says...
12:28pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Some people should really be ashamed of themselves. We are not trained fire fighters so have no idea why they sit at the top of the road but am sure its because they need to. maybe you guys should get of your butts and do some work rather than slate the fire service. would be different if it was your house on fire.

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banjo8 says...
12:42pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Who's slating the fire service? So far they've only taken a full working week on this one. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the weekend, if it affects their shift pattersn. I bet if there was an announcement there was no more overtime then this one would be doused down pretty sharpish. Anyway, why ashamed? You should wake up and see things the way they really are - rather than just accepting the hype put out by the fire service. But you're right, it's a good job my house is not on fire, they're all busing drinking tea on Orpington Way.

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monday 7 says...
3:12pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Banjo8... They don't get overtime. You really need to get out more and get a life. So yes a fire... you got stuck in traffic.. Its not the end of the world.. go and get yourself a new hobbie!!!! or will you just wait for the next article to be able moan some more??

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Gypo.Joe says...
3:35pm Fri 22 Mar 13

Lets all hope these fire/water fairies don't get carried away with all this O/T and start taking on lots more financial responsibilities.

When the cuts do start there will be tears.

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