Smethwick blaze: fire chiefs tell public to stop using Chinese lanterns A Chinese lantern being launched. The lanterns -effectively miniature hot-air balloons - have become a popular way to celebrate special occasions. Photograph: Nir Elias/Reuters Chief fire officers have called for an urgent review of the use of Chinese or paper lanterns across the UK after evidence emerged of one causing a major fire at a plastics recycling plant during which 10 firefighters were hurt. The blaze, said to be one of the largest seen in the West Midlands, started late on Sunday night. At one stage, efforts to control it involved more than 200 firefighters from three fire services, nearly 40 fire engines and three hydraulic platforms. It also sent a plume of smoke 6,000ft high from the J&A Young plant at Smethwick, Birmingham. As the firefighters managed to contain the incident to a 300 x 300 metre chunk of an industrial estate, Vijith Randeniya, the West Midlands' chief fire officer, said forensic investigations and CCTV footage suggested it had been caused by one of the "uncontrolled, unregulated" lanterns. "You put some fire in the sky, it lands in combustible material and you get a multimillion-pound incident like this," he said. Randeniya is also president of the Chief Fire Officers' Association (CFOA) which has been looking closely at dangers caused by the lanterns. They are made of paper-covered wire or bamboo with an open-flame heat source - effectively miniature hot-air balloons - and have become a popular way to celebrate special occasions. But they have been condemned as a nuisance by fire services and animal charities. The CFOA appealed to the public and event organisers not to use them. "Whilst these lanterns are undoubtedly a popular and beautiful sight, the potential damage they can cause is significant," it said. These floating lanterns not only constitute a fire hazard but also pose a risk to livestock, agriculture, camping activities, thatched properties and hazardous material sites. Police and coastguards also spent time and money on having to deal with lantern sightings being mistaken as something else, such as a distress flare or UFOs. In Australia, there had been a temporary ban on all such products following a series of wildfires. Fire and rescue services should investigate with police and civil aviation authorities the possibility of taking legal action against those who caused damage by using such lanterns, said the CFAO. Randeniya's own service said it was urging community leaders and members of the public to discourage the use of the lanterns. The risk of further fires can only increase as the lanterns become more popular ... We believe there is wide scope for limiting the potential effects, use and design of such lanterns, and for the exploration of legal action being taken by people adversely affected by them. We also question whether event licences should be issued for events from which it is planned to launch such lanterns. Randeniya said the fire was the 15th this year at a waste transfer site in his authority. He made a plea for fire services to avoid cuts. Firefighting is a tough and dangerous job. That is why we train hard, why we resource well and why we would urge the government to retain the current financial levels," he said in a video played from the scene of the fire via the service's Twitter account. Randeniya said he expected firefighters to be on the scene until Tuesday. Only then can the difficult job of cleaning up the site begin. As the molten plastic hardens, it will require removal by mechanical diggers, he said. According to the fire service, two of the 10 firefighters injured were taken to hospital as a precaution. Injuries included heat exhaustion, injuries to eyes and an ankle, and a minor burn. J&A Young (Leicester), which trades as Jayplas, claims to be the UK's largest plastics recycler. It also has two sites in Loughborough and one each in Derby and Manchester, with its main products being polythene refuse sacks. The company did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian. During the crisis, the fire service was in close contact with Birmingham international airport because of the potential for the huge smoke cloud to affect flights - although in the end there was no disruption. Local residents were advised to close their doors and windows, while motorists were warned to shut windows and air vents and turn off air-conditioning. The Environment Agency monitored the firefighting effort, especially water runoff into the local canal, but by mid-afternoon reported no fish in distress or other environmental impacts.