Fire crews still at 'tornado' recycling waste blaze

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service Fire crews responding to a blaze at a recycling waste processing facility on an industrial estate in Corby. Black smoke is coming off a building and billowing into the air. A firefighter is on an aerial ladder.Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service
At the peak of the blaze 50 firefighters were in action

Fire crews are still at the scene of a blaze involving 500 tonnes of recycling waste.

Since about 14:00 BST on Monday, Northamptonshire Fire Service has been at Recycle Force Ltd's processing plant on the Earlstrees Industrial Estate in Corby.

At the incident's peak, 50 firefighters with two aerial appliances were tackling the flames, which had spread to shipping containers at a neighbouring business.

In an update on Wednesday, the fire service said crews were still working with on-site staff, using machinery to dampen down any remaining pockets of fire and hotspots.

On day one, plumes of black smoke could be seen 14 miles (22.5km) away in Market Harborough, Leicestershire.

One person told the BBC the fire — which at that stage was getting "bigger and bigger" — looked like "a tornado".

More stories on the recycling waste fire:

John Hannah An aerial picture of a large fire at an industrial estate. There are flames and a large thick plume of black smoke coming out of the building. There are cars parked nearby.John Hannah
The plume of smoke from the fire at Recycle Force Ltd was seen up to 14 miles (22.5km) away

In its latest update, the fire service said Gretton Brook Road had reopened and the smoke plume had "significantly reduced".

But residents were still being advised to keep windows and doors closed if they could smell smoke.

The service said: "The fire service will continue to maintain a presence on site until all hotspots have been safely extinguished, and will conduct a fire investigation to determine a cause as soon as it is safe to do so."

Recycle Force said the premises were "temporarily unavailable" to receive or process waste.

In a statement on LinkedIn it said waste collections remained on schedule.

It said: "We are grateful to the emergency services for their swift response.

"Our focus remains on maintaining a safe, reliable and consistent service for customers while work continues to address the situation at the Corby facility."

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