Fire crews were called to the Smurfit Kappa plant on Mount Street, Nechell’s at 19:40 on Sunday. The incident saw around 8,000 tons of paper and cardboard bales involved in the blaze.
Over 100 firefighters were tackling the blaze at the height of the incident, utilising more than 30 fire appliances, including two aerial hydraulic platforms, multiple fire engines, a high volume water pumping unit and a drone.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Faizal, a resident of Nechells living near to the blaze, said: “We just seen the smoke basically fire all night. It was blazing over the night. I woke up and stayed awake until about two or three o’clock in the morning to check it out from a window.”
Sam Burton, Area Commander of the West Midlands Fire Service, said: “So initially they were faced with quite a dynamic and rapidly progressing fire because cardboard is dry, and there was a slight wind as well which you know, increased the intensity of the fire.
”We have still got some smoke in the area. So the residents and businesses, that are really close, we just please advise them to keep their windows closed just to stop that smoke entering the building. They can follow the progress of the incident on social media and they’ll get updated information.”
The Fire service state they are working closely with the Police and Ambulance services, as well as the Environment Agency, Severn Trent Water and on-site staff to bring the incident to a safe conclusion.
Advertisement
Advertisement
As things stand there are no reports of any casualties or risk to the public, but West Midlands Fire Service have asked nearby residents to exercise caution and follow the advice of emergency services on the ground.
A message from the editor:
Thank you for reading. BirminghamWorld is Birmingham’s latest news website, championing everything that is great about our city - reporting on news, lifestyle and sport. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook,Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going