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Lantern Landing at Smethwick Recycling Plant Fire Caught on CCTV Camera
Chinese Lanterns were captured on CCTV have been cause of controversy for some time now. Environmental activists have spoken of the devastating impact these have on wildlife and birds. Even Glastonbury, where people traditionally brought many Chinese lanterns with them, has had to ban them this year. It has now transpired that the massive fire at the Smethwick recycling plant in the West Midlands was caused by one of these Chinese lanterns. The fire destroyed the plant, including 100,000 tonnes of plastic and paper, and caused injury to fire fighters.
It was today reported that CCTV images have been found that show the Chinese lantern making its landing at the Smethwick recycling plant, starting the fire that turned out to be so destructive. The fire required no less than 200 separate fire fighters to assist to put out the blaze itself.
The incident occurred at the Jayplas depot and started sometime during Sunday. Chinese lanterns can be purchased for little money from various locations, including the various Poundshops and 99p stores for instance. This has made them very popular, because they are beautiful to watch and easy to light. People have used them for celebrations or commemorations, lighting the lanterns in memory of a departed loved one, for instance.
However, it came to light that they were very dangerous, often landing on people’s roofs or in trees, where they could potentially start a fire. As stated, environmental activists have released pictures of birds being caught in the paper and wiring that makes up the lantern, and how this has killed them. However, the pictures haven’t seemed shocking enough and although there have now been calls to ban the lanterns, they have not been taken off the market.
The nation watched in horror, however, as the Smethwick plant blazed into the night. They worried over the lives of the fire fighters who had to be called in from various localities in order to deal with the tremendous heat and fumes escaping the building. Everybody was glued to their television to see the outcome of the incident.
And now, thanks to CCTV, there are actual images of this horrendous blaze starting. It is hoped that the camera footage will be sufficient to finally ban the lanterns altogether. It won’t be the first time that great changes are achieved thanks to CCTV footage and it is hoped that positive change will come out of this particular footage as well.