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Firefighters leave Smarden Business Estate after tackling mattress mountain blaze for over 48 hours

After more than two days, fire crews have finally left the site of a recycling plant fire.

Firefighters were called out to Smarden Business Estate on Sunday morning as 1,000 tonnes of rubbish including mattresses, two large buildings and around five shipping containers caught fire.

Crews worked around the clock, in extremely challenging conditions, to tackle the blaze and left just after 4pm yesterday.

The fire at the Smarden Business Park. Picture: Andrew Boxall and Jamie Freeman (Headcorn Aerodrome) (3204255)
The fire at the Smarden Business Park. Picture: Andrew Boxall and Jamie Freeman (Headcorn Aerodrome) (3204255)

However, they carried out further visits throughout the night and this morning to check for any remaining hotspots.

They worked with an on site demolition company and a mechanical excavator was used to access the building.

The burning contents is being brought out of the building, so that fire crews can extinguish it, using hose reel jets and water supplied by the bulk water carrier and a hydrant.

Crews also had to rake through the mattresses to extinguish the deep seated fire at the heart of the piles.

The amount of mattresses at the site has been the cause of concerns for years.

The fire at the Smarden Business Park. Picture: Andrew Boxall and Jamie Freeman (Headcorn Aerodrome) (3204251)
The fire at the Smarden Business Park. Picture: Andrew Boxall and Jamie Freeman (Headcorn Aerodrome) (3204251)

In 2015, there were more than 2,000 tonnes worth of mattresses at the recycling facility - some stacked as high as five metres and last year, recycler Lewis Bertram was warned he could be jailed over the mess.

It is unclear how much of the waste had been cleared before the fire.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, however the fire investigation teams will be attending the scene later today.

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