Car battery sparks fire in early hours
PROMPT ACTION BY FIRE SERVICE SAVES MAJORITY OF RECYCLING PLANT
BUILDINGS, machinery and equipment were destroyed in the early hours of Sunday morning when a fire broke out at Leon Recycling at Croghan Industrial Estate in Arklow.
The blaze which took hold when a battery in one of the end of life cars stored at the breakers yard caught fire.
Owner Laurence O’Neill said the fire broke out about 2.30 a.m. on Sunday morning. He was alerted to the fire by security firm Sovereign Security, who also contacted the fire service.
Fire crews from both Arklow and Wicklow quickly rushed to the scene and Laurence praised both their response time and actions at the scene.
‘The fire service was fantastic. They were there at the yard in record time and acted so quickly. Only for them we would have lost so much more. They saved the offices, trucks, other equipments and buildings. They saved the majority of the place really.’
Laurence said that three workshops at the vehicle recycling plant were extensively damaged along with their contents which included cars, equipment and garage machinery.
‘When we looked back at the CCTV it seems that a car battery went on fire and then it spread like wildfire. We had been worried that someone had broken in and set the fire maliciously but thankfully this wasn’t the case. At the end of the day the main thing is that nobody was hurt.’
The fire crews remained at the scene until 7.30 a.m. on Sunday morning and returned during the day to ensure there was no risk of the fire restarting.
Despite the fire it is business at usual at Leon Recycling and Laurence said the company was open for business as usual on Monday morning and work is continuing in other sections of the yard.