Batteries discarded in a blue bin are likely to have been the cause of a fire in a bin lorry that engulfed three tonnes of rubbish in Cambridge.
Following the blaze, householders have been reminded again about not disposing of batteries and vapes in blue recycling bins.
The fire broke out in the bin lorry at 10.43am on Friday, 26 April, in King’s Hedges Road.
The crew stopped and unloaded the recycling onto the road to protect the bin lorry.
Firefighters from Cambridge then used a hose reel and small gear to extinguish the fire and were back at their station by 12.25pm.
Afterwards, Bode Esan, the head of Greater Cambridge Shared Waste - which runs the waste collection service for Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire - told the Cambridge Independent: “We believe the fire to have been started by batteries that were put in a blue bin. Our crew did exactly the right thing by finding a safe place to unload the recycling to stop the fire engulfing the lorry, and we’re grateful to Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue for their prompt assistance.
“The household waste materials for recycling were then quickly tidied up by the Cambridge City Council grab-lorry.
“Batteries and vapes that end up in bin lorries do cause fires like this. Small household batteries are easy to recycle at home: they can be put in a small plastic bag, tied shut and left on the top of any of your household wheelie bins on collection day.
“You can also drop off batteries for recycling at supermarkets and other big shops. Larger batteries, like e-bike batteries, should be taken to the large household recycling centres – where vapes can also be taken for recycling.”
