Major fire at Widnes recycling plant, no injuries

Firefighters from multiple counties worked through the night to bring a major fire at a recycling plant in Widnes, Cheshire, under control after it broke out on Monday afternoon, June 22. The blaze, which involved hundreds of tonnes of waste cardboard, sent a dense plume of black smoke across the region but resulted in no reported injuries.

The Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service was first alerted to the fire at the facility on Everite Road at approximately 4:30 p.m. The fire spread rapidly within a large single-storey warehouse, estimated to measure 50 by 50 metres and containing a significant volume of cardboard. Due to the intensity of the blaze and the risk of structural collapse, crews were initially forced to fight the fire from the exterior.

At its peak, the incident involved 20 fire engines from Cheshire stations including Widnes, Runcorn, Warrington, and Northwich, with additional support deployed from Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and North Wales. A crew from Whitchurch Fire Station in Shropshire was also dispatched. The service's foam tanker and high-volume pump were utilized at the scene.

Authorities declared a major incident due to the size of the fire and...