Horsham District Council is calling on its residents to practice diligent recycling after batteries sparked a fire in a waste collection vehicle.

The council’s waste team managed to extinguish the fire with fire extinguishers and headed back to Hop Oast depot to offload the truck’s contents. The West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service was also on hand to confirm the fire was fully extinguished.

Firefighters traced the origin of the fire to a set of battery-operated lights, aggravated by other non-recyclable items in the load, which contributed to the fire’s spread. The 5-tonne recycling load had to be discarded as waste due to the fire.

Councillor Jay Mercer, Cabinet Member for Environmental Health, Recycling, and Waste, expressed relief that no injuries or significant damages occurred, crediting the waste team’s prompt actions.

Mercer highlighted the dangers of improperly disposing of batteries, which can lead to fires when compacted in collection trucks. He urged the community to safely recycle loose batteries by placing them in a bag atop their bins on collection day and to utilize the council’s complimentary collection service for small electronics.