Bonfire night: Video shows why the Jayplas fire should act as a warning to families

The fire at Jayplas Ltd in Smethwick in June 2013 was the biggest ever tackled by firefighters in the West Midlands as thousands of tons of plastic and paper went up in flames. More than 200 firefighters were called to the scene in Dartmouth Road at the time to tackle the blaze started by a single Chinese lantern.

CCTV footage from the time showed a sky lantern settling on open piles of waste.

Months later Staffordshire introduced a ban of Chinese lanterns on council-owned land and properties in the county.

And the scale of the devastation even prompted Poundland to stop selling them from their shelves.

This week - with bonfire night looming - West Midlands Fire Service has published a video featuring facts and figures about the huge blaze. It is accompanied by a clear message on the use of sky lanterns.

The Twitter post from the fire service, said: "One sky lantern required 35 fire engines, 400 emergency calls, and 14m litres of water in 12 hours. Don't use them!"

Smoke could be seen 60 miles away, roads were closed, buses diverted and a school shut by the huge blaze, which broke out on June 30, 2013.

Jayplas Ltd was closed for more than six months following the devastating inferno, which caused £6million of damage.

As well as calling for a code of practice for the storage of waste and recycling materials, the fire brigade demanded a review of the sale and use of the lanterns.

CCTV footage showed a lantern descending onto the piles of plastic at the Dartmouth Road site. Within eight minutes, the fire had taken hold

It was also the third blaze at a recycling plant in the West Midlands in less than three months – the others being at Lawrence Recycling in Kidderminster and Pelican Foods in Stourport in June and May 2013 respectively.

Since the fire there has been the introduction of new guidance by the Trading Standards Institute.

It is hoped the code will ensure those who manufacture the lanterns are doing so safely, and will be used by council trading standards teams to recognise the necessary safety checks and type of warnings and instructions that need to accompany an product.

The code also sets out details on the quality of the materials that should be used, and includes the fact that no metal should be included as it can be harmful to animals and the environment after the lantern lands.

They should also not be red or orange in colour so they are not confused for distress flares.

The code is also designed to act as a guide to those who import and distribute the lanterns, as well as those planning on using them as part of an event.

Several retailers, including Poundland and Tesco, stopped selling sky lanterns following the Smethwick fire last year.

It was revealed earlier this year how waste plant fire have become a more regular sight across the Black Country and south Staffordshire with at least 10 major fires at recycling plants in the past three years.

A year before the fire, Lawrence Recycling, off Stourport Road in Kidderminster, was hit a by blaze.

At its height as many as 80 firefighters from three services were at the scene and they spent six days bringing it under control. In the following weeks many of the 70 staff worked around the clock to help in a massive clean-up operation, which included clearing the burnt rubbish and water used to extinguish the blaze.

Just six months later, the firm suffered a second fire at the site, which now stands derelict.

More recently, in Hednesford, at Chase Metal Recycling in June last year, fire ripped through a unit, causing £100,000 worth of damage. The blaze destroyed specialist machinery as well as around 100 tonnes of scrap metal.

Bloomfield Recycling in Tipton was also hit by fire. The blaze, believed to have been an arson attack, took place in March in 2014.

And in September in 2014, the European Metal Recycling in Smethwick was impacted by fire.

The blaze involved 200 tons of scrap metal, with thick black smoke soaring over The Hawthorns, home to West Bromwich Albion.

Most recently, a spark from a vehicle battery or scrap metal ignited a massive fire at a recycling centre in Carel Avenue, Saltley in March this year.

More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze, which involved up to 800 tons of mixed plastic, rubber and metal.