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Blaze at industrial estate

Lucy McGuire
15/ 5/2008

FIREFIGHTERS spent more than four hours tackling a blaze at an industrial estate involving potentially explosive cylinders.

The fire, involving waste plastic, broke out at Plus Polymers in Radcliffe’s Bradley Fold Industrial Estate, shortly after 11am on Tuesday, May 13.

Eight fire engines from Bury and Bolton arrived at the scene and 40 firefighters tackled the blaze, which damaged 10 nearby cars.

No one was reported injured but three male employees, who had attempted to tackle the fire, were treated by an ambulance crew on site for the effects of smoke and minor burns.

Bury’s station commander Peter Brandon said it was an ‘extremely difficult situation’ and the cylinders had to be treated like an unexploded bomb.

He said: "On arrival at the fire, there were drums of plastic and latex rubber. Early on, one of the drums of latex rubber burst and a liquid fire ran out of the compound.

"We had to detonate a cylinder like a unexploded bomb - the crew worked extremely hard in a very difficult situation."

He added: "The fumes went high into the air over neighbouring fields and after looking at Met Office information, residents were asked to close their windows as a precaution."

Steve Price, director of Engineering Metal Services, whose unit is next to Plus Polymers, was evacuated when the fire started and not allowed back until 2pm on Wednesday.

He said: "It started becoming a serious blaze and with it being an oil-based product there was a lot of black smoke and they were having trouble controlling it."

Resident Donald Greenhalgh, 56, who has lived in nearby Newark Avenue for 16 years, says there was a fire at the same site three years ago and is concerned about the fumes such blazes cause.

He said: "The carbon footprint that place is creating is absolute murder. The last fire there, the window frames were melted. You can taste the fumes in the air."

A spokesperson for Bury Council said the cordon surrounding the industrial estate was lifted on Wednesday. An investigation has been launched into the cause of the fire.

Plus Polymers were unavailable to comment.