A warning has been issued by East Riding of Yorkshire Council to its residents, relating to the disposal of batteries, following a fire started by a power bank portable charger in the back of a bin lorry on 18 October in Bridlington.
The council explained that only by quick thinking on the part of the bin collection crew was there an aversion to a disaster - the crew, upon noticing black smoke billowing from the back of the truck, flagged down a nearby wheelie bin washing van, and asked Alan Yates, the owner, to dampen down the smouldering waste with his pressure washer. A member of the bin collection crew, Paul Blewitt has said, "The fire could have been a lot worse. If it hadn't been for Alan being there at the right time with his pressure washer the wagon might have gone up in flames."
Whilst the contents of the lorry were still smoking, the crew drove it to a waste transfer station at the East Yorkshire village of Carnaby, whereupon they dumped the waste into a puddle of water, and then followed up with a hose in order to extinguish the fire completely. Paul Tripp, the head of Streetscene services at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, has said, "Our crew acted extremely quickly to prevent a much bigger fire and the potential loss of one of our bin lorries."
The members were busy completing their usual rounds when the emergency arose. The power bank had been placed in a green household bin, then emptied into the waste lorry, which caught ablaze and then set fire to the waste inside of the wagon.
Following the incident, the council's waste and recycling team has appealed to residents, asking them to never place batteries in their household bins in a bid to prevent further incidents from occurring. Councillor Tripp has added, "As we're coming up to the time of year when lots of batteries will get used for new presents and gadgets, we are encouraging residents not to bin them, but instead to recycle them at shops or household waste recycling sites."
A similar appeal was issued in 2017, when batteries were the cause of several fires, after coming into contact with vehicles and machinery at many recycling facilities across the country. The council has reminded residents that all 10 household waste recycling sites in the East Riding area have their own dedicated battery bins, and are equipped to take batteries of any size.
