15 Jul 2013
A huge blaze in South Yorkshire was tackled by 50 firefighters on Sunday.
It is thought the fire started in rubbish before spreading to a plastics factory in the Attercliffe area of Sheffield.
Around 20 tonnes of plastic were burnt as nearby residents were urged to stay inside with doors and windows closed as a large plume of black smoke is spread across the area.
Some roads around the factory were closed as ten fire appliances were on the scene, using a high-volume pump to try to get as much water on the fire as soon as possible.
Commenting on the Twitter page, a post from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service said its officers were assisting with the fire and smoke had been seen as far away as Ripley in Derbyshire.
South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service commander Rick Rolt said: “We’re likely to be turning the plastics over and damping down for days but we’ve just got monitor jets on the fire now so we may be able to scale back later. The crews have done an absolutely fantastic job.
“We were really worried about the fire spreading to neighbouring buildings such as Veolia. Then there would have been lots of potentially hazardous problems and we’d have been looking at evacuations. But the crews put some fire breaks in to stop the fire spreading, and they managed to contain it to the premise involved.”
Copyright Press Association 2013