On Tuesday 6th August a fire broke out in the early hours, in the kiln drying area at Certainly Wood. The fire brigade were called and it wasn’t long before 14 fire engines were on site from afar as Worcester, Tewkesbury and Redditch.
Firefighters, along with staff at Certainly Wood worked tirelessly to prevent the fire spreading from the kiln building to the rest of the site which was full of firewood and kindling stock, along with processing equipment and the manufacturing plant of the Flamers and KindleFlamer natural firelighters.
Additional supplies of water were pulled from a nearby lake, but it was soon evident that this would not be sufficient. Further support was called from Worcestershire for provision of a pump and hosing to pull additional water from the River Wye, a mile away – providing 6,000 litres per minute to control the fire. With the wind direction away from the site, the additional water supply and the huge efforts of the fire crews and staff, the fire was eventually brought under control later that day.
Jon Butlin, from the fire service, said compressed foam had also been used to help tackle the fire due to it being in such a rural location, but even this was struggling to have any impact due to the extreme heat. “We don’t have many big fires like this, but when we do, we are very much well prepared with the resources” he said. “firefighters had done a sterling job to stop the fire spreading”.
The fire brigade eventually left the site on Thursday, leaving part of the site destroyed. One of the founders of the business George Snell, who lives on site said “This has been a truly harrowing day for us all, but the fire brigade have been totally amazing and it is a miracle that we didn’t lose the entire site – on behalf of all at Certainly Wood, we want to thank the Hereford and Worcester Fire Brigade for their professionalism and for what they achieved in preventing an absolute catastrophe”. He went on to say “Most importantly everyone is safe and well”
Commenting on the situation, Managing Director Nic Snell said “I massively echo George’s comments, but our entire team at Certainly Wood have been amazing in their support in a crisis to liaise with suppliers and customers. We have been truly overwhelmed by the messages of support we have had from customers, suppliers, friends, competitors and industry stakeholders”.
The majority of stock of firewood is unaffected as is the firewood processing equipment along with the natural firelighters operation. All 8 kilns are massively damaged along with the boilers. There will inevitably be a significant disruption to the business but alternative sources of kiln dried firewood are already being sought.
Nic went on to say “George and I set up Certainly Wood nearly 20 years ago and we have lived and breathed this business all this time. This is truly heartbreaking, but we know we have built a great business with amazing staff and we still have a long way to go. It has hit us all really hard, but we are very confident that given time, we will come back even stronger, providing our customers with quality products and a service they have come to expect from Certainly Wood”
Visit their website here: https://www.certainlywood.co.uk/