Durham bin men warn of lorry fires caused by disposable vapes

Oct 16, 2024

Disposable vapes and batteries thrown in bins have caused multiple fires in bin lorries.

Durham County Council said one of its refuse workers had described seeing flames as high as 15ft (4.6m) when a lorry caught fire when he was on his rounds.

Last month bin workers reported two fires on the back of their trucks, believed to have been sparked by lithium batteries.

Refuse driver, Craig Wilson, said it was "pretty scary" when his lorry caught fire while he was driving through Woolsingham.

He said his team managed to dump the "smoking rubbish" and call the fire service.

"As soon as we dumped it, the fire jumped up it was about 15-feet and there were explosions," Mr Wilson said.

"Please don't bin vapes it's just asking for trouble."

The authority said that during the last five years,12 fires on refuse trucks had been caused by lithium batteries.

Mark Wilkes, the council's cabinet member for waste services, said: "People need to know you can't just bin disposable vapes they need to be recycled properly.

"I don't think people know that they can recycle vapes, they may have heard of batteries being recycled but vapes are becoming more popular we need to get the message out."

The council has put in place 161 electrical equipment recycling points in community venues and primary schools, as well as 75 vape recycling points.

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