Birmingham factory fire: Huge blaze hits packaging plant

More than 100 firefighters tackled the fire through the night

A large blaze has surged through a packaging plant in a major incident in Birmingham, local fire service said.

West Midlands Fire Service said over 100 firefighters and more than 20 appliances were used to tackle the flames at Smurfit Kappa in Nechells, Birmingham on Sunday night.

The incident involved approximately 8,000 tonnes of paper and cardboard bales on fire at the warehouse on Mount Street.

A large blaze has surged through a packaging plant in a major incident in Birmingham (West Midlands Fire Service)

There were no reports of any casualties and Smurfit Kappa has now resumed some operations at the plant.

The fire service said that at the “height” of the fire, they had deployed than 30 fire appliances in attendance, including two aerial hydraulic platforms, multiple fire engines, a high volume water pumping unit, and a drone.

Smurfit Kappa has now resumed some operations at the plant (West Midlands Fire Service)

Nearby Birmingham City Centre and Heartlands Parkway had been closed after the fire broke out, but have since reopened.

Over 100 firefighters and more than 20 appliances were used to tackle the flames (West Midlands Fire Service)

Ireland-based Smurfit Kappa is Europe’s largest paper packaging producer, and the Birmingham plant is one of two paper mills that it runs in the UK.

It produces 500-700 tonnes of packaging paper daily, which is then converted into cardboard boxes.

The company has had a huge surge demand for their products since the pandemic began.

According to its website, the company has the capacity to produce 8.3m tonnes of paper and board a year globally and handle more than 7m tonnes of recovered product for recycling.

The fire service expects to be in attendance at the plant in some capacity for at least the next 48 hours.