Scrap blaze illuminates London night sky

Eight fire engines and some 60 firefighters were reportedly called to the scene of a scrap metal inventory fire in Dagenham, United Kingdom, on Sunday, March 10. Dagenham is located in the eastern portion of Greater London.

The fire consisted of considerable flames and accompanying smoke, according to an online news item by Essex Live. The cause of the blaze is still under investigation, according to a London Fire Brigade station manager quoted by the website.

Online news reports indicate the fire occurred at a scrap yard on Perry Road in Dagenham. Netherlands-based HKS Metals, a subsidiary of Germany’s TSR Recycling, acquired the former Van Dalen Recycling scrap facility on Perry Road in 2018. Van Dalen installed an auto shredder at its Perry Road location in 2012.

The London Fire Brigade indicates it responded to initial reports of the fire at 3:00 in the morning on Sunday, March 10. Essex Live says, “a large pile of scrap was completely destroyed by the fire, and crews were fighting to ensure the flames didn’t spread further to any other part of the industrial estate.”

The brigade indicates it took slightly more than three hours to get the fire to be what they consider under control.