Date: October 25, 2021
Location: Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk (UK)
Address: Hollow Road, IP32 7BB
Type: Potential Dust Fire
Fuel: Sugar Dust
Industry: Sugar Beet Processing (Food Processing)
Equipment: Unknown
Company: British Sugar
Database Incidents: None Recorded
Loss: No Injuries
Capital Cost: Unknown
Status: Open
Confirmation: Unconfirmed
Company Description:
According to its website, British Sugar is a sugar beet processing company headquartered in Peterborough, UK. It is the leading producer of sugar for the British and Irish food and beverage markets, processing around eight million tons of sugar beet and producing up to 1.2 million tons of sugar each year.
Incident Description:
On October 25, 2021, the East Anglian Daily Times reported a fire at a sugar beet factory in Bury St. Edmunds, UK.
Thirteen fire engines and dozens of firefighters were sent to the scene at 7:14 p.m., after a fire ignited in the drying plant of the facility. Working with the plant’s onsite fire service, the firefighters used hose reel jets and additional cover jets to extinguish the flames.
No injuries were reported.
Previous Incidents
On February 18, 2021, the East Anglian Daily Times reported a fire at British Sugar.
The Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service was called at 3:50 p.m. The fire started in one of the factory’s processing plants and spread to a conveyer belt. It reached dimensions of 30m by 30m. While crew members fought the flames, the plant’s gas supply was isolated. They were initially challenged by the complex size and layout of the factory but rapidly extinguished the fire with help from the on-site fire team.
No injuries were reported.
Sources:
East Anglian Daily Times (October 25, 2021)
East Anglian Daily Times (February 18, 2021)
