Firefighters were out to a massive blaze at a battery recycling plant in Lasham on Friday, which pumped out huge plumes of smoke visible across Basingstoke.
The fire began at Loddon Recycling, in Church Lane, at around 4.45pm and crews were still on site on Tuesday. Residents living near the industrial site beside Lasham Airfield heard a series of explosions from the building, which contained batteries and refrigeration products.
Crews from across Hampshire were mobilised to the scene and at the height of the blaze more than 75 firefighters were on site together with 16 officers and other support staff. Firefighters from Lasham Airfield worked alongside crews from from Surrey and Berkshire were also mobilised to assist from Farnham and Whitley Wood fire stations.
Fire appliances from Alton, Basingstoke, Odiham, Bordon, Hartley Wintney, Liphook and Winchester fire stations were in initial attendance together with the aerial ladder platform, special equipment unit and water carrier from Basingstoke, the water carrier from Bordon, the multi-role vehicle and command support crews from Rushmoor and the incident command unit from Service Headquarters at Eastleigh.
The officer in charge, group manager Steve Trevethick, said : “The fire developed extremely fast with huge intensity, ripping through the building and setting nearby vehicles alight. Upon arrival at the premises crews assisted in the swift evacuation of employees. A dozen local private residences were also evacuated as a precaution and other occupants were advised to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed."
Around 300 tons of alkaline zinc chloride batteries and metal oxides were involved, and a safety cordon was erected because of concerns over fire exposure to gas cylinders. Steve Trevethick said a 5,000-litre diesel tank were also affected by the fire.
"Firefighters worked extremely hard to contain the fire to the original building affected by fire and a secondary building containing commercial horse vehicles," he said. "Their efforts ensured that the fire did not spread further to other factories on the site and a neighbouring house. Due to the nature of this type of incident it will be protracted even though the fire has now been contained the operation scaled down."
Around 20 firefighters remained on site over the weekend. Both the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service helicopter and Hampshire Constabulary helicopter were used for aerial surveillance.
The fire service said it was working with the Environment Agency to remove potentially contaminated water from the site. An investigation into the cause of the fire has been launched.
