Fire Rips Through Liverpool Tyre Shredders

A massive fire broke out at the premises of Liverpool-based Eco Tyre Shredders on April 23. According to eyewitness reports explosions and fireballs ripped through the processing plant located in the Knowsley industrial estate. Initially six fire engines were called to the scene at 9am, and these were soon joined by another half dozen units as well as an aerial appliance that sprayed water on the blaze.

The fire continued to burn strongly, causing the roof of the single-storey facility to collapse. Flames then spread to a neighbouring office block. Fire incident management teams advised residents to minimise the effects of the cloud of thick black smoke forming over the building by staying inside and keeping doors and windows shut. At the height of the fire local business owners voiced concern about the fire potentially reaching buildings on the estate that housed chemicals, such as the Rentokill facility.

The fire was still burning 24 hours later, and three fire engines and the aerial appliance remained at the scene in an attempt to damp it down. According to a fire service spokesman, fire crews feared that airborne debris, including building materials containing asbestos, could be dispersed onto neighbouring homes, but their attempts to prevent this were helped by the weather. “Fortunately the rainfall we had yesterday meant that the debris came back down quickly and the wind direction meant that none of it was blown onto the houses,” he said.

The cause of the fire or the cost of repairing the damage has not at this stage been made public.