Smoke from biggest blaze in years drifts towards Olympic stadium

 
Smoke drift: Smoke from the Dagenham fire can be seen from the Olympic park Pic: PA
Pic: PA
12 August 2012

Two hundred fire fighters and 40 engines were today tackling a fire at a recycling centre in Dagenham described as one of the biggest in years in London.

Fire fighters were called just after 1pm to the fire at a recycling centre on Chequers Lane in Dagenham.

Plumes of smoke could be seen across the capital.

The whole of the single storey recycling building, which is around 50 by 100 metres, is alight.

A spokesman for Locog said there was no indication that tonight's closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium would be affected.

"Everything is going on as planned," he added.

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.”

Firefighters from Dagenham, Barking, East Ham and surrounding stations are at the scene. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

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