Rugeley farm blaze goes on and on - six months later it's still burning

And today the waste fire at Oak Tree Farm in Rugeley is still alight.

The blaze, which involved some 1,000 tonnes of waste, is 'still smouldering' says fire service bosses.

It is still unknown how the fire, at the farm on Slitting Mill Road, started, on September 5 last year.

The toxins stretched as far as Hednesford, about four miles from the farm, and the Express & Star revealed fire services spent over £110,000 tackling the blaze.

Staffordshire firefighters spent more than 340 hours there and costs for simply attending spiralled to at least £103,221.

The service also hired a digger from JCB for 21 days to move rubbish in an effort to stop the fire at a cost of £10,500.

Firefighters have used soil to cap the fire twice in an attempt to put it out and will do it for a third time in a fortnight.

Station Manager Paul Cullen said: "The fire at Slitting Mill is still smouldering under a cap of earth that was used to supress the fire in early September.

"We are continuing to carry out regular site inspections to monitor the integrity of the cap and carry out thermal monitoring to determine temperature ranges.

"To date we have carried out remedial works on the cap covering the fire on two separate occasions with heavy plant machinery.

"We revisited the site earlier this week and envisage carrying out further works on the cap covering the fire within the next two weeks."

Smoke and toxins from the blaze forced residents were forced to keep their windows and doors closed due to the smell of smoke.

It is unknown how the blaze started but some 1,000 tonnes of waste became well alight, sending smoke billowing into the air.

Some 40 litres of foam were used by Staffordshire Fire Service throughout the night in an attempt to tackle the blaze, but they were unable to put it out despite getting it under control.

Various other methods have been used to tackle the fire, but none have been successful.

Other help was called in from firefighters based at nine other stations.

Some came from as far away as Stoke, about 20 miles away.

Help was required from crews in Abbots Bromley, Chase Terrace, Longton, Barton under Needwood, Penkridge, Stafford, Stone and Burton upon Trent.

Councillor Alan Dudson, who represents Brereton and Ravenhill in Cannock Chase but lives just down the road from the fire, said: "I remember clearly how enormous the fire was, there was just smoke everywhere for miles.

"It was just huge, police and fire crews were telling everyone to stay indoors for their safety and nobody knew what was going on.

"It felt like it could have gone up another level at any time, we didn't know what materials were alight.

"The fire service did a fantastic job and I think that is something that has been recognised by everyone, but I would like to commend them again, all of the emergency services that were there did a fantastic job and the decision to cap the fire was the correct one.

"I predicted that it would take up until early this year for everything to settle because the scale of thing was so enormous, there is still a lot of work to do really.

"Once the fire has gone out you have the clean up, it has had a real impact on our area not just on the day itself but the aftermath.

"I have never seen anything like it in my life.

The blaze broke out months after another huge fire hit Stafford.

The fire at a warehouse belonging to industrial cleaning company Global Hygiene broke out in March, sending fireballs into the sky as over 40,000 litres of oil ignited.

An investigation led by the Environment Agency is still ongoing into the cause of the blaze at Global Hygiene.

In recent weeks, a planning application that would see neighbouring business Goodwins Removals Stafford brought back to life.

The business, also known as Drummond, submitted proposals for a storage and distribution unit, which would save the 15 jobs that were there prior to the blaze last year. They have now been recommended for approval by Stafford Borough Council.