Packaging News
UPDATE – Smurfit Kappa’s paper mill in Nechells, Birmingham, is closed today (18 April) after a major fire ripped through a storage area last night
In a statement to Packaging News, a Smurfit Kappa spokeswoman said that the fire started last night (17 April) in its recovered fibre yard.
She added: “Approximately 9kT [ 9,000 tonnes] recovered fibre has been damaged, and the mill was temporarily taken offline as a precautionary measure. Importantly there was no damage to the mill due to our water curtain deployment and the wind direction. The fire is now under control and our local management expect production at the 200KT plant to re-commence tomorrow.”
West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) said more than 15 fire engines were called out to the Smurfit Kappa plant, a mill that produces packaging papers, in Nechells.
This morning about 100 firefighters were at the scene of the blaze in Mount Street, which broke out shortly after 10pm last night, according to the WMFS.
The fire service said no-one has been injured and the fire was now contained to the seven-acre yard of the site.
A West Midlands Fire Service spokeswoman told PN this morning: “It is still a 20 pump fire and relive crews have been sent in.”
People living near the plant, close to the M6 motorway, were urged to stay indoors with windows and doors shut, the material burning is only thought to be cardboard and non-toxic.
A West Midlands Fire Service spokesman tweeted: “Fire at Smurfit Kappa is in a very large outdoor storage area. Approx 10,000 tons of recycled cardboard bales are ablaze.
“Fire is contained to storage area, high winds are hampering fire fighting, however crews and other agencies are working extremely hard to bring blaze under control.”
The mill recently celebrated its 150 years of paper making in the city. Around 40,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard, from Birmingham residents, are taken to the SSK Paper Mill every year. This recovered paper and cardboard is then used by the mill as a raw material to make new packaging papers.
Today Smurfit Kappa SSK employs 110 people and produces 500-700 tonnes of packaging paper every day which is then converted into cardboard boxes.
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