A massive fire at a recycling facility in Deptford, southeast London, prompted a major emergency response involving around 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines, severely damaging the facility and causing significant disruption to rail services into central London.
The blaze broke out shortly before 8 p.m. on Tuesday at the waste facility on Landmann Way, close to the border of Bermondsey and North Lewisham. The London Fire Brigade said approximately 50 tonnes of household waste were involved in the fire.
Dramatic flames and thick columns of smoke could be seen rising above surrounding buildings as crews from Deptford, East Greenwich, Old Kent Road and neighboring fire stations converged on the area. Authorities advised nearby residents to avoid the scene and keep their doors and windows closed because of the heavy smoke.
Firefighters faced difficult conditions while attempting to contain the blaze. A 32-metre turntable ladder and a 64-metre ladder were deployed as elevated water towers, allowing crews to attack the flames from above. The operation continued throughout the night.
The London Fire Brigade confirmed that the fire was brought under control shortly after 2 a.m. Wednesday, although crews remained at the facility through the morning to extinguish remaining pockets of fire. The building was described as having been severely damaged.
The emergency also caused major disruption to London’s transport network. Railway lines between London Bridge and New Cross/New Cross Gate were blocked because of the fire’s proximity to the tracks, leading to cancellations, diversions and delays affecting Southeastern and Thameslink passengers. Some travelers were warned of delays of up to 100 minutes during the incident.
The latest blaze follows another significant fire at a waste facility on Landmann Way in June, when approximately 100 firefighters were also deployed and railway services were disrupted. That earlier incident destroyed a van and a car and caused severe damage to part of a warehouse.
As of Wednesday, authorities had not established the cause of the latest fire. No fatalities were reported in the initial accounts of the incident.
The scale of the response and the repeated fires in the area are likely to bring renewed attention to fire safety at waste and recycling facilities, particularly as emergency crews across Britain respond to fires during periods of hot and dry summer weather.
For residents and commuters in southeast London, however, the immediate impact was unmistakable: towering flames, dense smoke and hours of disruption as firefighters worked through the night to prevent the blaze from spreading further.
