Fighting fire in recycling
Several brigades tackle blaze at Te Awamutu transfer station
Fire crews and resources from Te Awamutu, Hamilton, Chartwell, Cambridge, Ōtorohanga, Ngāruawāhia and Pirongia were required on Thursday to bring a large blaze under control at the Pāterangi Rd recycling transfer station on the outskirts of Te Awamutu.
It took the crews six hours to put the fire out as it was fuelled by piles of recyclables, including plastics, cardboard and paper, as well as plastic wheelie bins.
Multiple calls were received to the emergency centre at about noon when the fire could be seen at the transfer station which is used by Waipa¯ District Council’s recycling contractor Metallic Sweeping Ltd.
First on the scene were Spartan Construction workers Brad Wymer and Russell Everett who are working on the upgrade to the Te Awamutu Waste Water Treatment Plant.
The pair were heading off-site, which is adjacent to the transfer station, when they saw the smoke at the rear of the building.
“We called in the fire and drove to the front to check if anyone was in the building,” says Brad.
“Once we saw no-one was there we got out as quickly as we could.”
He says it didn’t take long for the fire to take hold.
Spartan Construction played a part later in the day when they used some of their heavy machinery to open up the piles of recyclables so the fire crews could get at the fire.
Incident controller was Te Awamutu senior firefighter Danny Smith.
He says the assistance of the local contractors was greatly appreciated and saved the crews three or four hours of firefighting time.
Danny says when Te Awamutu firefighters arrived on the scene they were confronted by a blaze that had already well involved.
He says the immediate plan was to defend the parts of the building and equipment that could be saved.
There were also two immediate threats — a loader which was in the pit where the fire was burning and a nearby diesel fuel tank.
Danny says on large vehicles the major threat was exploding tyres.
He says it was a great effort from the team to knock the fire back to just the pile of recyclables within 15 minutes.
Te Awamutu also had a water supply issue because there weren’t any fire hydrants nearby and the brigade’s tanker was being serviced for a CoF.
Danny says extra resources were requested, the first to arrived being Pirongia’s tanker, then joined by more from Cambridge and Otorohanga and later in the day Te Awamutu’s was again operational.
With a pile six to seven metres deep and 20m long, the teams settled in for the long haul.
Chartwell volunteers also brought over their portable dam which was used to allow the tankers to load and unload more efficiently.
The Ngāruawāhia Brigade brought in their canteen unit and kept firefighters fuelled with food and drinks.
At the height of the firefighting efforts there were 40 firefighters and 10 trucks and tankers.
Firefighters were also greatly assisted by the traffic management team that ensured the safety of motorists and firefighters and kept access available for tankers and emergency vehicles.
At various times visibility was an issue due to huge plumes of smoke, and the traffic management team kept traffic flowing safely using stop-go and a oneway system.
Danny says the last crews left the scene at about 6pm, by which time specialist fire investigators Ed Hopping and George Jensen were on-site.
Ed says they don’t believe the fire is suspicious, but have still to determine the cause.
Danny thanked all the crews and others who assisted, and also thanked the employers of the many volunteers who turned out for a long afternoon’s work.
Council has been liaising with Metallic Sweeping Ltd and says the contractors advise there will be no significant disruption to kerbside recycling as a result of the fire.