Recycling fire on Scrubs Lane

east acton yesterday

A huge column of black smoke was belching upwards for much of yesterday afternoon, with many of us seeing it on the way back from the tube. It dominated the skyline over Wormwood Scrubs and was in fact a metal recycling yard on Scrubs Lane just to the back of the scrubs. 

The London Fire Brigade confirmed that eight engines and 40 firefighters from across London were attending the scene, such was the scale of the blaze which involved much of the 3,000 tons of scrap metal there. 

Station Manager Pushminder Vagarwal who was at the scene said: 

“Our fire crews are working really hard to get this fire under control but it’s likely that we’ll be here for some time. There is a lot of smoke from the fire and we would advise any residents living nearby to keep their doors and windows closed.”

H&F Council put out an emergency email to residents confirming the blaze but said that there was no cause for concern from the smoke. In other words it was no more toxic than smoke in general.

The Brigade was called at 1448 and firefighters were at the scene throughout the evening. Fire crews from New Malden, Willesden, Park Royal, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Paddington and Bethnal Green fire stations are tackling the blaze. The cause of the fire is not known at this stage.