19 February 2020

Driver averts fire in Drayton Norwich

The speedy action of one of our drivers helped avoid a fire in one of our waste collection vehicles today. The driver could smell burning coming from the vehicle whilst on his rounds this morning and after investigating the vehicle he noticed smoke coming out of the back. He then moved the vehicle to a safe position away from the main carriageway whilst he waited for assistance from the fire brigade.

The fire brigade identified that the fire was in the middle of the load and advised him to eject the load so that they could extinguish the fire. These are very rare occurrences and investigations are ongoing as to what within the waste may have started the fire.

All of our drivers receive extensive health and safety training on what to do should there be any incidents. We have strict procedures to minimise the impact on people and property and due to the immediate actions taken by our driver we were able to avoid a major incident. The ejected waste was made safe and cleared within 2 hours of the incident to minimise the effect to the general public and our customers. The vehicle involved has been sent for a precautionary inspection to ensure it is fully operational and full service has been resumed to our customers.
Jack Lavington, Spokesperson, Ellgia Recycling