HGV which caught fire was carrying “potentially volatile items”, confirms fire service

A heavy good vehicle which caught fire in Bangor-on-Dee contained chemicals, paints, batteries and aerosols, it has been confirmed.

The incident took place in the early hours of Thursday (29 June) morning in the Bangor-on-Dee area.

A specialist team of cleaners were called in to remove the debris on the A525 Whitchurch Road, which remained closed until this afternoon.

There had been uncertainty about the contents of the HGV – with just a shell of the vehicle left after the blaze.

This evening North Wales Fire and Rescue Service issued reassurance of the “low level risk” to the public and confirmed the contents of the heavy goods vehicle.

In a statement, North Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: “Crews attended a fire involving a heavy goods vehicle carrying potentially volatile items including chemicals, paints, resins, batteries, aerosols and cylinders.

“Crews tackled the fire using hose reels and main jets and where possible, contained the volatile load. The fire involved a number of explosions which could be heard in the local area.

“During the incident, a joint risk assessment was undertaken with Natural Resources Wales to mitigate the environmental impacts.
Specialist recovery and cleaning contractors recovered the vehicle, contained fire water and residues from the drainage system and removed remaining loads.
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Following damage to the area of road involved, Wrexham County Borough Council have resurfaced the road and our understanding is that it will be open later today.

“We and our partner agencies believe that the risk to public health and the local environment is low, both in the short and long term.

“We’d like to thank our partners in Natural Resources Wales, Public Health Wales and Wrexham County Borough Council for working with us and helping us bring the incident to a safe conclusion.

“Should any individuals require further information, please contact us at [email protected].”

Image courtesy of Wrexham’s Green Watch fire crew on Instagram,