At around 8:00 p.m., a fire broke out on a pile of dry recyclable waste located in a 1500 m² building at a waste sorting and dispatching facility. The alert was given by a driver who had finished his work for the day. Using a fire hose reel, he sprayed the area and then closed the retention basin’s shut-off valve. Firefighters took over from there. The waste was removed from the building and spread out to make extinguishing easier and check for any remaining hot spots. The smoke extraction system was turned on. One person was made slightly ill by the smoke. After the fire was extinguished, the facility’s security guard patrolled the site each hour.

The burnt waste (3 paper bales and 140 m³ of bulk waste) was sent to a storage facility. The firewater was pumped up and disposed of by a specialist company.

The fire started in a skip containing collected unsorted waste. A piece of burning plastic had fallen onto the floor and spread the fire to the bulk waste. CCTV footage did not make it possible to establish the causes of the fire. The accident occurred after the end of the workday.

A fire had occurred at this facility just under a year earlier (ARIA 48414). Back then, the inspection authorities for classified facilities had noted regulatory violations regarding waste storage conditions (piled too high) and fire risk management systems (lack of a smoke extraction system). When they revisited the facility after this new fire, they saw that the aforementioned regulations were observed.

However, contrary to what was provided for by the site’s prefectural decree:

• The building did not have an automatic fire detection system connected to an audible and visual alarm that was relayed to the guardhouse.
• The emergency procedure is not accessible outside business hours.

Accordingly, they gave the operator six months to install an automatic fire detection system. In addition, they instructed the operator to post the emergency procedure in the guardhouse (the security guard is present during closing hours) and ensure that it is known to all employees.

The operator sent the lessons learnt from the accident to all the group’s sorting facilities. He reminded workers that smoke is prohibited and he asked them to be more vigilant about the types of incoming waste and to more closely monitor waste piles during hot weather.