GOOD progress is being made in extinguishing a fire at a landfill site in Compton Bassett, near Calne, but there will be a fire service presence on-site into tomorrow.

Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service received the first of multiple 999 calls at 5.05am this morning (April 27) and, on arrival, found a large fire within a stack of approximately 40,000 tonnes of waste.

At the height of the incident, there were around 40 firefighters in attendance, drawn from Calne, Devizes (two crews), Chippenham (two crews), Marlborough and Trowbridge, together with water carriers from Pewsey and Wilton, a command support unit from Stratton St Margaret, and an environmental protection unit from Gillingham.

As at 4.15pm, there were crews on scene from Mere and Royal Wootton Bassett, and water carriers from Wilton and Royal Wootton Bassett. They are working closely with site staff to break down the waste stack and smother the affected area with soil to extinguish the fire.

Station Manager Dave Geddes, the incident commander, said: “We’ve made really good progress through today and will continue until we lose the daylight later.

"There will be a watching brief on site throughout the night, and then we will scale back up tomorrow morning to bring this incident to a conclusion.”

He added: “There is still smoke rising from the fire, and we appreciate that this has been of concern to local residents.

"Anyone local who is worried should continue to keep their doors and windows closed, and seek medical advice if they think they have been affected.

"We don’t yet have a cause for this fire and it’s possible that we will never know exactly what ignited it, due to the size of the affected waste stack.”