THE RESPONSE to a fire which broke out at a recycling centre in east Belfast on Tuesday is expected to last a number of days, fire services have said.
The fire broke out at the Clearway Disposals metal recycling centre at the Belfast Harbour Estate in the East Twin Road area at around 1pm, with significant resources being used to tackle the fire including 50 firefighters and six appliances on its first night.
High volume pumps, as well as two fire tugs, were also deployed to fight the fire.
"We are looking at a number of days to extinguish this significant fire," group commander of Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) Paul Rodgers said on BBC Radio Foyle on Wednesday.
Crews are still in attendance at a well-developed fire in a scrap metal recycling centre on East Twin Road, Belfast. Significant resources continue to respond to the incident.
Local residents are being asked to remain in their homes and to keep doors and windows closed. pic.twitter.com/6XxPGeRROC— Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service (@NIFRSOFFICIAL) December 29, 2021
He said firefighters are "working tirelessly to move product from the site and then move it to another area to get into the pile itself".
"It is approximately 10,000 tonnes of metal and waste product and we are just still working through that at the moment," he said.
He said while the fire "may not look as visually intense" as it did on Tuesday, it "is still as bad as it was yesterday".
"It is approximately 80 to 100m long and about 40m wide, and we are still at the minute working around the periphery to try and get into the most intense part of the fire itself," he said.
Local residents are being advised to keep their doors and windows closed.
