Multiple councils have warned residents against binning batteries after three separate refuse vehicle fires this week.
West Northants, Norwich City Council, and Southampton City Council have each posted social media statements about bin lorry fires faced by their fleet crews in the last week.
All of the local authorities revealed that the incidents occurred due to batteries having been wrongly disposed of with general waste.
Southampton City Council confirmed that the fire service was called to the scene of the fire on on Cromwell Road, with the road having to be cleaned after the lorry was emptied.
Although West Northants reassured residents that crews had managed to eject the recycling truck’s load quickly after noticing the fire in Pitsford, the fire service was still required to extinguish the blaze, while the street cleansing team had been tasked with clearing the waste.
Norwich City Council said of its incident: ‘Thankfully, no one was hurt, but fires like this can happen very quickly and put crews and those in the area at real risk’.
They reinforced that residents should never bin batteries and said they should ensure that the items are discarded at an official electrical drop off point.
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Photo: © Joe Dudeck.
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