The Russia-linked fire at a DHL depot left a pallet of Amazon deliveries ‘100% destroyed’ after staff managed to move it out of the building, according to newly released documents.
The blaze was discovered ‘immediately’ after the packed metal container brought in by air caught alight on July 22 last year at the warehouse in Minworth, a suburb of Birmingham.
Fresh details about the incident have been released today after the information commissioner ordered West Midlands Fire Service (WMFS) to disclose a time log and incident report.
The redacted documents back up reports that the blaze could have had serious consequences if it had broken out on an airliner.
In November, a Polish intelligence chief said that the suspected Russian arson attack was a test run for future sabotage targeting the US.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
Pawel Szota, speaking after Poland arrested four people alleged to have been involved, added that if the devices had exploded in the air, it would have been a major escalation against the West.
The UK’s investigation into the incident, which came just days after another air freight package caught fire at a DHL facility in Germany, is being undertaken by Metropolitan Police counter-terrorism officers.
A 38-year-old Romanian man was arrested by the UK investigation team in March on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service after flying into Stansted Airport. He was taken to a London police station and was due to be released on bail last month.
Firefighters responded after the alarm was raised at 03:41 by a person at the Prologis Park Midpoint site, which handles parcels for delivery, who reported a ‘6ft fire’ in a metal storage pallet.
The caller said it had been placed outside the building and was ‘unsure’ of what it contained, according to the time-stamped record.
The log states that the 5ft by 4ft pallet containing Amazon delivery parcels had ‘initially set on fire inside the DHL building.’
The document continues: ‘However DHL staff removed this to outside car park. 100% of items on pallet destroyed by fire.’
A fire crew from Erdington used a hose reel and liaised with DHL staff as they tackled the blaze, with the building having been evacuated.
The time between ignition and discovery is recorded as ‘immediately’, with the cause or motive marked as ‘accidental’ based on the information available at the time.
A slight delay to the response was caused by the crew of four being sent to the wrong location, according to the incident report.
There have not been any reports of injuries or significant damage caused by the blaze, which occupied the firefighters for just over an hour.
Cross-referenced with pictures obtained by the Wall Street Journal and The Guardian of the incident, the information suggests that a worker in a forklift acted swiftly in moving the burning container out of harm’s way.
A Russian covert operation was suspected of sending the incendiary devices into the UK and Germany, according to Western security officials who spoke to the American title.
The fire service had tried to prevent the logs being released under the Freedom of Information Act, initially releasing only a one-line statement from a spreadsheet categorising the incident as an accident.
The authority said: ‘We cannot provide the incident log or a report directly as these are only available to the owner of the property.’
Asked for a fuller picture, the authority then cited personal information and also made a brief reference to national security and health and safety, saying that exemptions for the latter reasons ‘may’ apply.
After the Metro complained to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the watchdog ruled in a 13-page decision that the information should be released in redacted form.
The commissioner found the ‘limited arguments’ made by the fire service for a national security exemption unconvincing, writing: ‘The level of detail within the incident log and incident report, in relation to this specific event, is limited and the commissioner finds the arguments to be generic rather than specific to this particular case.’
The commissioner also rejected the fire service’s argument that the release of vehicle fleet information or response procedures could endanger personnel in future, finding that these could be redacted and were in any case only briefly referenced.
Addressing the authority’s attempt to block the disclosure on the grounds that the information had been ‘collected in confidence’, the watchdog said: ‘WMFS has not sufficiently demonstrated that there is any obligation of confidence or that there would be any detriment to consider.’
Releasing the information in redacted form, the fire service said that personal information and national security exemptions had been applied.
The response states: ‘The service has applied Section 38 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to withhold the release of vehicle call signs and other operational identifiers.
‘Disclosure of such information could compromise operational effectiveness by revealing details critical to firefighting duties.
‘It may also increase the risk of impersonation of emergency personnel or facilitate malicious interference with emergency response activities.
‘This poses a significant threat to public safety and the safety of our personnel. There is a compelling public interest in safeguarding critical national infrastructure and maintaining national security.’
A DHL spokesperson told Metro: ‘This relates to an ongoing investigation, so we are unable to provide any comment on these developments.
‘DHL continues to work closely with the respective authorities to support and enforce industry-wide safety and security directives.’
Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk