Rubbish seen piled on street in Trumpington after bin lorry catches fire

The council has provided an update on collections following the incident

Firefighters were called to a bin lorry blaze in Trumpington on Wednesday morning (September 9). The fire on Clay Farm Drive involved one a Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service bin lorries after waste was collected in the Trumpington area of Cambridge this morning.

Crews from Cambridge were called at 8.19am and rushed to the scene of the fire. Firefighters arrived to find a fire in a bin lorry involving rubbish, a fire service spokesperson said.

The crews used hose reels to battle the fire and checked for hotspots. Photos taken by an onlooker showed heaps of rubbish put on the street during the incident.

A Cambridge City Council spokesperson confirmed all the crew are safe and there were no reported wider safety issues or road closures. The spokesperson said: “The crew followed safety protocols, stopping the truck and tipping the waste into a safe area. The fire service attended the scene and council teams attended to clean up the area.

“There is not expected to be any disruption to bin services as the crew have continued on their collection rounds after decanting the general waste.” A fire service spokesperson confirmed the cause of the fire was accidental.

A city council spokesperson continued: “While it’s too early for the cause of the fire to be identified, bin lorry fires are usually caused by batteries, particularly large rechargeables such as e-bike batteries, being incorrectly disposed of in wheelie bins. Vapes and gas canisters can also cause fires and should never be binned.

“Residents are reminded to never bin batteries. E-bike or scooter batteries can be taken to Household Recycling Centres such as those near Milton and Thriplow, or to Halfords or B&Q to be safely recycled.

“Small household batteries can be left on top of wheelie bin lids in a small bag to be collected separately by bin crews. If you live in a flat with communal bins please take batteries to local shops – all shops which sell batteries will have a collection point.”