News

Amcor Flexibles did not suffer any disruption and all deliveries went out on time after a fire at one of its packaging plants in Derbyshire last night (Monday).

The flexible packaging firm had to evacuate staff after fire broke out at its Crompton Road plant in Ilkeston.

About 25 firefighters tackled the blaze in a 10x15m solvent recovery tank, which held up to 500kg of ethanol.

Amcor Flexibles general manager Charlie Ackernley said: "All the controls on the site worked and the production of flexible packaging for bread bags was up and running again after six hours."

Losing the tank did not affect the plant's ability to deal with solvent-laden air as it has two systems of solvent abatement on-site, he added.

Ackernley said an engineer at the site saw flames coming from the solvent recovery tank and pressed the fire alarm.

About 35-40 people on site for the night shift were evacuated. No one was injured.

Amcor Flexibles employs 185 people at the plant.

Nick O'Key, station commander at Kingsway Fire Station in Derby, said the fire brigade took the call just after 7pm.

"It looked like there had been a rupture on the flanges to the tank, which resulted in pressure loss and ignition of the tank," he said.

O'Key said the fire crews dealt with the blaze outside the tank with water jets, but the inside continued to heat up like a "gigantic barbeque".

"In a dangerous and tricky operation, they had to remove the inspection hatch and pour on water from above to extinguish the fire inside the tank," he added.

An investigation into the cause of the fire is now underway.

Amcor is to close another site in Ilkeston, the Venus plant at Digby Street, with the loss of up to 140 jobs, and transfer operations to Evesham, Worcestershire, where it will create 60 jobs.

Staff from Ilkeston have been given the opportunity to apply for these positions.