Firefighters still at Tipton blaze scene
This was the scene as huge jets of water were fired over smouldering waste and wood at a recycling firm.
Hundreds of tons of recycled timber went up in flames in a blaze at Bloomfield Recycling in Tipton on Sunday.
The fire service now believes the fire may have been started deliberately as investigations into the blaze continued today.
Firefighters remained at the firm, based in Bloomfield Road, overnight trying to cool burning embers using high powered water jets.
Landmovers and diggers were being used to turn over waste and wood piles in effort to allow crews to aim water jets underneath.
Fifteen fire crews were called to tackle the blaze at its height but overnight only around three crews remained making checks and cooling burning materials. Firefighers from Tipton fire station continued to monitor the burning embers this morning.
See also: Huge Tipton timber inferno suspected to be result of arson
Tipton Watch Commander Keith Hampton said: "We spent most of yesterday at the fire, but the decision was taken after around 1pm to step some of the crews down.
"The smoke plume was still quite large, but it is about half the size it was before. Crews remained on site overnight to continue the operation of removing the material and dampening it down.
We will then re-assess the situation and see if any more work needs to be done."
Crews continued work at the site all through last night and into the early hours of the morning. When the fire broke out on Sunday afternoon, the plume of smoke could be seen from around five miles away, prompting the fire service to advise residents to close their windows and doors.
Engineers from South Staffordshire Water were called to increase the water pressure, while traffic on the road outside the plant was also affected, as firefighters ran hoses from one side to the other in order to access fire hydrants.
By yesterday morning more than 2.5 million litres of water had been poured onto the fire as fire crews battled to keep the blaze under control.
This is the third fire at the site in seven years, with the last one taking place in 2011.
