A major fire ripped through Smurfit Kappa’s paper mill on Wednesday night (17 April). Some 9,000 tonnes of cardboard bales were well alight [nearly a quarter of its stock supply], covering seven acres of a 22-acre site.
West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) said that the cause of the fire is under investigation, but not believed to be suspicious.
Around 45 firefighters remain on scene. WMFS said that their work involves breaking into bales of paper and board, but this allows oxygen into the heart of the bales and leads to flare-ups.
In a statement published this morning (19 April), WMFS said: “Safety of the firefighters is paramount, so it’s a very carefully considered process. Fortunately the wind speed has now dropped, making conditions at the scene less challenging. We’re working very closely with the company, and are grateful for their continuing support. They are helping to remove and recycle ashes and wet cardboard.
“One digger is now able to work on part of the site to assist the operation, and this will be scaled up when safe to do so.”
The firefighters expect to be on site for the whole of this weekend.
At the height of the fire the WMFS had more than 100 firefighters, 28 fire engines, two aerial appliances and a high volume pumping unit.
‘Wind direction’
Yesterday, a Smurfit Kappa spokeswoman told PN that approximately 9,000 tonnes of recovered fibre were damaged and the mill was temporarily taken offline as a precautionary measure.
She added: “Importantly there was no damage to the mill due to our water curtain deployment and the wind direction. The fire is now under control and our local management expect production at the 200KT plant to re-commence tomorrow.”
As PN published this story this morning, Smurfit Kappa was preparing an updated statement on the situation.
Around 40,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard, from Birmingham residents, are taken to the SSK Paper Mill every year. This recovered paper and cardboard is then used by the mill as a raw material to make new packaging papers.
