Beenham fire to be extinguished next week

The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) has warned “significant amounts” of smoke and ash will be released during the three-week operation to finally extinguish the remainder of the smouldering heap - initially the size of a football pitch - situated on part of Grundon’s site, leased to now defunct company, Good2Grow composting, at Pip’s Way.
“Remaining organic matter will be moved, a tonne at a time, spread out on an adjacent area and saturated with water. Operations will not be carried out at night or at weekends, so as to minimise any noise and disruption to local residents, “ said Nicole Targett, a spokeswoman for the RBFRS.
“The techniques we will be using are designed to suppress production of smoke and ash as far as possible but with an operation of this size, significant amounts will still be released. However, once the work is finished, the fire will be extinguished completely,” she said.
Options ruled out included burying the material in soil, or placing the heap in a huge water pit, and after first excavating a pit.
It was finally decided to move spread and wet the entire heap, as the most effective method of extinguishing the fire.
Two fire engines, their fire crews and an officer will be on site every weekday for three weeks. An aerial appliance may also be used, with heavy plant and manpower loaned by Grundon's to assist.
The now defunct business, Good2Grow was operating under an Environment Agency (EA) permit and EA spokesman, Mark Tucker, said the EA would continue to work with the RBFRS to minimise environmental hazards during operations to extinguish the fire adding: “Our investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing and we will report the outcome and any lessons learned once it is complete.”
Long suffering neighbours had been complaining since November that their lives have been made a misery by the smoke which had infiltrated their homes and caused health concerns, but recently said ‘enough was enough’ and demanded that the authorities take some action.
The move to finally extinguish the smouldering heap - which self-combusted at the end of November - follows an agreed, multi-agency plan, formed by the Environmental Agency, the RBFRS, West Berkshire Council, Public Health England and the landowner, Grundon Waste Management.