Firefighters remain at Altens recycling centre blaze three days on

Crews remain at the scene of a blaze at an Altens recycling centre that started on Friday.

Firefighters have been at the scene of the incident at the Suez recycling centre in Altens for more than 60 hours.

One appliance and a pump remain at the scene this afternoon, dampening down and making the area safe.

Crews were initially called to the Suez Recycling and Recovery UK at Altens at 4.30pm on Friday. They managed to extinguish the flames and remained on site to monitor the area.

‘Highly challenging fire’

The blaze reignited around midnight – with more than 24 crews, sent to tackle it.

Over the course of the weekend, crews have been working relentlessly to bring the fire under control.

Deputy Assistant Chief Officer Stephen Wood, head of service delivery for the north of Scotland, said today: “We were alerted at 4.37pm on Friday to reports of a fire within a recycling centre in Aberdeen.

“Operations Control mobilised nine fire appliances, plus a number of specialist resources, to the scene at Altens Industrial Estate, Hareness Place.

“Firefighters thereafter spent several hours fighting a highly challenging fire which had taken hold of a large area of mixed waste.

“Due to the nature of this significant incident, firefighters have been in attendance at the scene over the weekend.

“We currently have two fire appliances and two specialist resources in attendance today (Monday, July 11), where firefighters are working to dampen down remaining hotspots and make the area safe.

“While the fire was contained to within the recycling centre, we know there has been an impact on local residents, in terms of some wide-spread smoke and a reduced water supply. I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding as we work to extinguish it as quickly and safely as possible.”

More than 100 firefighters

At the height of the fire, more than 100 firefighters were sent to the site, with crews from as far as Montrose, Peterhead, and Dundee joining the effort.

Yesterday, area commander Matt Mason said that although the smoke was starting to dissipate, crews would remain on scene for some time.

After some residents of Cove lost their water supply on Saturday due to the sheer amount being used to fight the fire, crews decided to pump directly from the harbour.

Hareness Place and a section of Coast Road are both closed while firefighters continue their efforts.

Aberdeen City Council has said due to the ongoing disruption caused by the fire no bins will be collected today. They will be picked up on Saturday instead.

There have been no reported injuries.