Grundon Waste Management praises firefighters who worked through the night on fire at Banbury facility

Grundon Waste Management has praised firefighters and its own team who worked through the night to contain a fire at its Banbury waste facility in the Thorpe Way Industrial Estate on Wednesday evening (December 1).

The fire saw dozens of firefighters respond to tackle the fire from Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue services.

A spokesperson for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue said: "This was a significant incident involving up to seven fire engines, 40 fire crews and a control unit in attendance.

"Crews left the scene at just after midday today (Thursday December 2). The fire has now been extinguished and the scene handed over to the site owners."

The fire took hold in a bay containing an estimated 45 tonnes of general (non-recyclable) waste, from both household and commercial collections. It was being stored within one of 10 specially-designed concrete-walled waste collection bays at the facility.

A Grundon spokesperson said: “We are extremely grateful for the prompt response from fire crews across the region and also to our own team. Together, their swift actions helped ensure the fire was safely contained within one of the concrete bays in a small section of the site and, as a result, damage was minimal.

“We’re pleased to confirm no-one was injured as a result of the fire and we should also like to reassure residents that there was no danger to the wider public.

“Our strict on-site safety protocols ensured that the alarm was raised within a short space of time and the significant investment in the building’s fire walls and fire suppression systems, which were specifically designed to manage fire risk, ensured the fire was contained.

“While it is too early to speculate on the possible cause of the fire, we shall be working closely with the fire brigade and other relevant authorities to investigate further.”

Firefighters were originally called around 7 last night (Wednesday December 1.)

Firefighters who initially responded came from Banbury Fire Station, Deddington, Hook Norton, Charlbury, Bicester Fire Station and were supported by crews from Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service (Gaydon and Leamington). Additional crews arrived this morning (Thursday December 2) from Chipping Norton, Rewley Road (Oxford), Bicester, Abingdon, Wheatley, Witney, Burford and Woodstock who worked to move the waste to outside to extinguish it.

Some specialist appliances also attended the scene, which included the command unit and Incident Support Unit from Eynsham to support the high numbers of breathing apparatus being worn.

The 20,000 sqm Grundon Bulk Recycling Centre opened in October 2018 following a £7 million investment. The site accepts commercial and industrial wastes from local businesses, in addition to domestic waste and recyclables from Cherwell District Council.