East Sussex waste recycling site fire: call to action for businesses and the public

ESFRS attended the incident at Light Brothers in Lewes on Wednesday, Febuary 7, having been called at 9.25pm.

An ESFRS spokesperson said: “Four fire engines were in attendance from Lewes, Preston Circus and Uckfield, a water carrier, and our national resilience waste fire tactical advisor. A fire prevention plan and measures were in place to allow firefighters to assist onsite staff who effectively extinguished the fire within an hour.”

The fire service said no casualties were reported and the fire was accidental.

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Station Manager and National Resilience Waste Tactical Advisor Craig Williams said: “This particular waste management site had effective fire prevention plans and measures in place. Thermal imaging detection was used, enabling staff to react quickly, identifying the fire before it came to the surface, preventing dangerous fire spread. This allowed our crews to assist onsite staff who were able to extinguish the fire within an hour.

“We are currently in an active Primary Authority Partnership with members of the British Metals Recycling Association where we can offer fire safety advice. However, some businesses may not have such measures in place.

“We would encourage businesses to contact us for any queries or concerns around business fire safety compliance. We also urge members of the public to do the right thing and dispose of electricals and batteries safely to prevent these fires occurring in the first place.’”

People can find out how to recycle batteries properly at www.esfrs.org/battery-disposal. Primary Authority Partnerships provide regulatory support to help people comply with fire safety law. Visit https://www.esfrs.org/primary-authority-scheme.

ESFRS said there have been more than 700 fires in recycling or waste lorries and recycling centres over the last year (2022/23), which have been caused by binned batteries across the UK. They said the batteries could be loose or be batteries hidden in electricals, adding that increased usage of vapes, e-cigarettes, and other devices containing lithium-ion batteries pose a severe fire risk and can cause fires when punctured or damaged. The fire service said these fire can cause millions of pounds of damage, disrupt waste services and put lives in danger.