Fire at Brierley Hill metal recyclers Dunn Brothers

Dec 29 2009 by Chris Henwood, Birmingham Mail

AROUND 14,000 tons of waste metal was on fire today at a Black Country recycling firm.

Crews from Birmingham were even called to help tackle the blaze, which broke out at Dunn Brothers, in Moor Street, Brierley Hill, at just after midnight.

Thirty five firefighters were sent out to find coarse particles of iron and magnesium alloy alight in a furious fire in an outside yard.

Officers said they would be facing a huge operation to get the fire extinguished due to the temperatures involved.

“It seemed to be burning inside the pile. There was lots of smoke, but it was dissipating quite well,” according to a fire service spokesman.

“The only damage to the site was to the metal itself.

“I’d say we’re going to be at the site for almost all of today.”

The metal is believed to be engineering waste, much of it covered in oil. However, the cause of the fire was unknown.

The road was initially sealed off by police over fears of ice forming as firefighters used two main jets to try to put out the fire, which was still going at around 7am. A high-volume pumping unit was also despatched to the scene to boost the water supply.

Crews from Brierley Hill, Cradley Heath, Oldbury, Dudley and Stourbridge were the first on the scene, joined later in the morning by firefighters from Kings Norton and Northfield.

West Midlands Ambulance Service was also called out, but no injuries were reported.

Nobody from Dunn Brothers’ HQ in Smethwick was immediately available for comment.

The family-owned business began in 1962 and today operates from four locations in the Midlands, South Wales, South East England, and South West England.

The firm specialises in recovering, recycling, processing, trading, and exporting ferrous metal and non-ferrous metal.

It won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade, in 2005 and again two years later.