Firefighters continue to tackle blaze at Smurfit Kappa Nechells mill

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The fire at Smurfit Kappa's Nechells mill in June

Firefighters from West Midlands Fire Service are continuing efforts to put out the fire at the Smurfit Kappa Nechells mill in Birmingham, three days after it started.

Around 8,000 tonnes of cardboard caught fire in the storage yard of the mill.

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A statement from West Midlands Fire Service said: “Our operations continue at the Smurfit Kappa site in Birmingham, nearly three days after a huge fire started there on Sunday evening.

“Today (Wed), three fire engines, an aerial platform and our high volume pumping unit have remained at the scene.

“Around 20 of our firefighters have been working with on-site personnel to break up and thoroughly dampen down burning material, before it can safely be removed to another site. This process now involves five diggers working around the clock.

“We are doing all we can to enable the company to resume more of its usual business as soon as possible.

“We hope to be able to further scale down our resources at the site this evening.”

On Monday, Smurfit Kappa released a statement that said: “At approximately 19.40 BST yesterday evening a fire broke out in an adjacent premises to the Smurfit Kappa SSK Paper Mill in Birmingham. High winds carried the fire which reached the mill’s recovered fibre yard.

“Smurfit Kappa would like to thank both West Midlands Fire Service staff and the SSK team for their swift and professional response in controlling the fire within a few hours and ensuring the safety of all.

“The paper mill itself is unaffected and we do not expect any material impact on production.”

On its Twitter feed, West Midlands Fire Service has also shown drone footage of the current state of the site: