A Tayside fire chief has praised the ”team effort” which averted disaster during the region’s biggest blaze in 10 years.
Area commander David Stapley said the outcome of Friday’s inferno at Inveralmond Industrial Estate in Perth could have been far more grave had it not been for the ”amazing” work of all involved.
A massive emergency operation swung into action shortly before 8am on Friday when 50ft flames tore through Wyllie Recycling on Ruthvenfield Way. Thick plumes of acrid black smoke filled the town’s skyline as almost 100 tonnes of waste materials, including paper, tyres and gas cylinders, caught alight.
More than 70 firefighters were drafted in from across the region to tackle the blaze, which took four hours to get under control. At one point gas canisters sent potentially lethal shrapnel flying through the air but no one was injured.
Up to 300 people had to be removed from neighbouring buildings amid concerns the flames would spread.
Mr Stapley, who led the operation, believes the swift actions of all the crews involved and the hard work of the Tayside Fire and Rescue command control centre in Dundee saved nearby businesses.
He also praised the decisive actions of Tayside Police, Perth and Kinross Council’s emergency planning officer, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and Scottish Water, drafted in when water levels ran low late in the morning.
Mr Stapley told The Courier: ”It was a truly tremendous team effort. We haven’t had to call upon so many crews since the huge fire at Morgan Academy in Dundee 10 years ago.”
He added: ”We were very concerned that the flames might spread to nearby businesses, risking further lives and causing thousands of pounds more damage.
”As well as Perth, appliances attended from Auchterarder, Kinross and Dundee, which meant we had to quickly formulate a plan of action.
”In any organisation, if you have 70 people on the ground, you need to get them into groups, so we divided the firefighters up into four separate teams to protect each side of the site. They showed real bravery and commitment to each task in hand.”
Mr Stapley explained that, at first, the tactics were to contain the flames but that had to change to protecting the boundaries when water ran low. At that point, the high-volume pumping unit was called from Stirling to syphon water from the River Almond.
Mr Stapley said: ”Our fire control personnel are really crucial. They work hard to ensure all communities are adequately covered and keep in constant contact with the incident command on the ground to notify us of everything that is taking place.”
The black smoke plume, caused by the burning plastic, was also a serious issue.
Mr Stapley said: ”We had to quickly decipher whether it would affect the A9 or Perth Aerodrome so we called the Met Office Environment Monitoring and Response Centre and used Chemet (Chemical Meteorology) to help us undertake some plume modelling.”
SEPA and Scottish Water also worked together to ensure all contaminated run-off water would be treated.
Mr Stapley estimates that £5m of fire and rescue resources were in operation to battle the Perth blaze.
He said: ”We have invested millions in training, protective equipment for crews and fire appliances but this incident shows it has been worth it.”
Photo Phil Hannah