Today, a fire broke out at the Vilnius regional waste sorting plant fire The fire was brought under control. The plant operator, UAB Energesman, apologizes to the surrounding residents for the inconvenience caused. According to initial data, the fire may have started from improperly disposed waste by residents, and arson is not ruled out.
"The fire alarm at the factory went off at 7:45 a.m. in the tunnel of selected unsuitable waste. Security personnel immediately contacted the rescue services and, until they arrived, tried to extinguish the small fire with fire extinguishers. This selected waste is stored in a concrete tunnel," says Algirdas Blazgys, head of Energesman.
The fire alarm soon went off in the waste collection area, where garbage trucks collect and dump waste collected from residents. From there, the waste is loaded onto conveyors and sorted. The fire later spread to the nearby factory premises, where the already sorted waste is stored.
The fire did not engulf the entire factory, and was stopped by the fire prevention system installed in the factory, which, when the alarm was triggered, automatically started spraying water and stopped the spread of the fire.
"We are actively cooperating with the Fire Protection and Rescue Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Environmental Protection Department, Vilnius Municipality, and the Vilnius County Waste Management Center. We believe that the causes of the fire will be clarified and this will help us further strengthen risk prevention," says A. Blazgys.
The company responsibly complied with fire and environmental requirements, the last inspection was carried out on March 10 of this year and no violations were found.
The factory was closed on the night of Saturday to Sunday when the fire broke out - this is the only night of the week when the factory does not have a night shift and the equipment is stopped. On other days of the week, the factory operates in three shifts around the clock.
At the time of the fire, only security and weighing station employees were in the factory; the factory was not operating and there were no other employees there.
Some employees were supposed to arrive at the factory on Sunday at 8 pm, and waste sorting would resume on Monday at 6 am.
The factory territory is fenced and monitored by video cameras.
Residents are reminded that batteries, accumulators, electronics, solvents, paints, chemical cleaners, and hot ashes, which can ignite and cause a fire, cannot be thrown into mixed waste containers.
The damage caused by the fire to the factory is currently being assessed, as well as how quickly it will be possible to rebuild and resume operations. Optimal solutions are being sought to ensure that waste collection from residents of the Vilnius region does not stop.
The Vilnius Mechanical and Biological Treatment (MBA) plant operated by Energesman sorts mixed and food municipal waste from the entire Vilnius county, which includes 8 municipalities: Vilnius city and Vilnius, Trakai, Elektrėnai, Ukmergė, Švenčionys, Šalčininkai and Širvintos districts. The plant sorts about 220 thousand tons of waste per year.
