Forty fire engines and more than 200 firefighters are tackling a large fire at a recycling centre on Chequers Lane in Dagenham, RM9, not very far from the Olympic center. At the height of the incident, a plume of smoke could be seen across London. The whole of the single storey recycling building, which is around 50 by 100 metres, is alight.
London Fire Commissioner, Ron Dobson, said:
“We’ve not seen a fire of this size in London for several years, it’s certainly a dramatic end to the Olympics for the London Fire Brigade. That said though, we are still able to attend incidents across the capital and the fire cover we’re providing at the Olympic venues has not been affected.
“We’ve got over 200 firefighters from across London working hard under challenging conditions to bring the incident to a close. Fortunately, we’ve not had any reports of injuries at this stage.
“I would like to reassure people that we are still able to attend incidents across the capital and the fire cover we’re providing at the Olympic venues has not been affected.
“At this stage we aren’t sure how the blaze started as our focus is getting the flames under control. Fire crews will remain at the scene for as long as necessary and a thorough investigation will begin once the fire is out in order to establish how it started.”
( via london-fire.gov.uk)