Residents urged to dispose of batteries carefully after blaze at HWRC
Residents are being reminded of how important it is to dispose of batteries properly after a 'dead battery' spontaneously combusted at a Household Waste Recycling Centre on Sunday.
At around 2pm on September 8, staff heard crackling, popping noises coming from the batteries bin at Lytham Household Waste Centre and went over to investigate. Lancashire Fire and Rescue Services arrived on scene and quickly put the blaze out and stayed to monitor the temperature of the lithium batteries until they reached ambient temperature. This meant that the site had to remain closed for the rest of the day to ensure safety for staff and visitors. It was open again from Monday, 9 September.
This is the latest in a series of fires causes by batteries across Lancashire's waste facilities. At Preston Transfer Station, one blaze in June affected around one tonne of cardboard and a few months previously, in April, one caused around 40 tonnes of recycling products to be lost as they had to be disposed of.
County Councillor Shaun Turner, cabinet member for Environment and Climate Change said:
"It is so important that all lithium ion/rechargeable batteries are disposed of in the right way, as even batteries that appear to be dead can spontaneously combust just like this.
"Batteries can cause fires if they are damaged or crushed, leading to potentially deadly consequences – and this can occur at any time, as this fire shows. If you have a damaged battery please let a member of staff know.
"Well done to our on-site staff, who handled the situation calmly and safely.
"Batteries of all sizes can explode and set off fires, making them a very difficult item to handle. Please recycle these responsibly – including ones in items you may not have considered, such as vapes, electric toothbrushes and singing birthday cards.
"Find out more about where to properly dispose of all recycling here: Recycling"