Source: Radio New Zealand
Fire crews worked until the early hours of this morning to extinguish a fire at Blenheim’s Resource Recovery Centre. Supplied / Marlborough District Council
A Blenheim dump will be closed for some time after being badly damaged by fire.
Six crews battled the blaze for hours at the Marlborough District Council’s Resource Recovery Centre in Wither Road after fire took hold in a pile of cardboard on Thursday afternoon.
The council’s solid waste manager Mark Lucas said the fire soon spread to nearby cans, plastic and paper.
“The fire was extinguished at 1.30am and then reignited around one hour later so the fire crews worked through the early hours of the morning to put it out again,” he said.
“Around 20-30,000 litres of water was poured into the building and two or three times that outside.
“We are incredibly grateful to all the fire crews involved – many of whom are volunteers – including multiple units from Blenheim along with Wairau Valley, Renwick, Base Woodbourne and Nelson for their hard work in difficult circumstances.”
A large clean-up lay ahead but the council was working on a plan to ensure recycling continued in the district, Lucas said.
“Our kerbside collection will continue as normal and we are investigating options for handling these recyclable products while the Resource Recovery Centre is out of action. As soon as these arrangements are confirmed, we will let the public know,” he said.
“The Resource Recovery Centre, the Dump Shop, the Blenheim Transfer Station and the Hazardous Waste Centre all remain closed following the fire. We are working as quickly as we can to get the Blenheim Transfer Station and Hazardous Waste Centre open and will update the public as soon as this information is available.
“The Dump Shop has no fire damage but there is potential for smoke damaged items within it. It will remain closed until at least Monday to allow for clean up while the Resource Recovery Centre, where the fire started, will be closed for some time.”
A fire investigator had visited the site but the cause of the fire had not been identified.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
