It is believed the blaze began at the Rossfield Road Household Waste Recycling Centre in Ellesmere Port at about 9pm but was not noticed until firefighters were called to the scene at 3am today.
Ellesmere Port firefighter Ant Fletcher said: "I'm f
airly certain it was caused by a big floodlight which was close to some paper and caused it to go up.
"It could have been that and a combination of the hot weather and it (the paper) being bone dry."
Two appliances from Ellesmere Port Fire Station and one from Chester were called to the scene.
Firefighters were also concerned because there were gas storage cylinders at the scene which if ignited could have exploded.
Chester firefighter Jim Payne said: "We found a large quantity of storage cylinders and put a covering jet on them to keep them cool .
"There could have been an explosion."
Firefighters also used the aerial appliance known as the "bronto" from Chester Fire Station to tackle the flames from above.
Firefighter Payne said: "The bronto was very successful in extinguishing quite a considerable amount.
"The flames were as high as a three storey building."
The full article contains 220 words and appears in Evening Leader Chester newspaper.
