Skegness Magazine

Source: Skegness Standard 2000

500 tons goes up in smoke
TWO fire crews from Skegness and one from Wainfleet were called to the scrapyard on Sunday morning after a pile of wood mulch caught fire at Sid Dennis and Sons’ Scrap metal yard, Croft Bank, Skegness.
The crews arrived to find 500 tons of waste timber alight.
After bringing the blaze under control it was decided to allow it to burn out in a controlled manner.
Police assistance was needed as smoke billowing across the nearby A52 made visibility poor.
There was also the danger that nearby calor gas and propane cylinders could explode if they overheated.
Two hose reels were used to cool the tanks and move them from the site of the fire.
Crews from Wainfleet, Spilsby, Mablethorpe and Alford rotated shifts, keeping the fire under control at all times and damping down the surrounding areas.
There was a risk the blaze could spread to 300 pigs housed one side of the wood pile and scrap the other side.
At times the fire flared up, fanned by the strong wind.
As the fire died down on Tuesday crews began to remove some of the mulch to a nearby field putting out the fire as they went along.
This continued into Wednesday when just one crew remained assisting in damping down the site.
It is believed the fire started after wood mulch began to overheat as it breaks down.

Photo by Paul Gooch