UPDATE: Parked cars gutted in estate blaze

8:19am Wednesday 14th May 2008

A HUGE blaze destroyed parked cars on an industrial estate despite a desperate battle by firefighters to save them.

Hundreds of workers were evacuated and roads were closed as the fire raged on the Bradley Fold Industrial Estate.

Plumes of smoke filled the sky over Little Lever and Radcliffe as the flames, fanned by the wind, spread to cars parked by drivers arriving for work earlier in the day.

Firefighters used forklift trucks to move some cars out of danger and tried to create a wall of water around others.

But six cars were burnt out and a further 15 were damaged.

The fire started in a large 40-square metre compound used to store waste plastic at Plus Polymers Ltd.

At the height of the blaze, 40 firefighters were at the scene and nearby residents were told to stay indoors, with their doors and windows closed, because of the dense black smoke There were several explosions as cylinders of propane and oxygen burst and the fire brigade placed an 24-hour exclusion zone of 200 metres around the site after discovering further acetylene cylinders.

Carl Bostock, crew commander from Bury Fire Station, said: "It started off as a fairly small fire, but the wind caused it to get much bigger.

"Liquid latex was leaking from containers and rolling on top of the water then catching fire, which spread to cars.

"We moved as many as we could, using forklift trucks in some cases and creating a wall of water around the others, but six were completely burnt out and another 15 were damaged."

The fire started just after 11am in the Plus Polymers Ltd compound.

Three workers, two aged 46 and one aged 55, tried to tackle the blaze and were later treated by paramedics for the effects of smoke inhalation and slight burns .

Radcliffe Moor Road and Bradley Fold Road were closed while firefighters pumped water from the nearby Star Mount lodge.

Paul Jenkins, one of the managing directors from Mark Two, a distribution firm on the industrial estate, said his staff watched as flames destroyed their cars.

He said: "It was absolutely incredible and very frightening."

He said his firm had been complaining to Bury Council for some time about the waste that had been dumped there and asking them to do something about it because it was a fire hazard.

"Now our worst fears have been realised," he said.

People from more than a mile away could see the smoke billowing from the industrial estate.

Last night the entire estate was still sealed off.

The smouldering compound was stained by what appeared to be large quantities of melted yellow plastic and a chemical smell lingered in the air..

The burnt-out husks of cars could be seen alongside others that survived the fire, but many were covered in thick black grime.

Firefighters were directing cooling jets into the compound and the industrial estate is not expected to reopen until after midday today.

The cause of the blaze is not known and a fire investigation team was at the scene.

Workers evacuated from the site were turned away as they returned to retrieve their cars and belongings.

Bob Gilmore, aged 52, of Radcliffe, had to leave his camper van behind when he was evacuated from a Bury Council depot on the estate.

Although not destroyed, it has been damaged and blackened by smoke.

He said: "We were due to go on holiday in it next week. I don't think we're going to be able to do it now."

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