Huge fire at county firm

Plumes of smoke were sent billowing into the skies above a Shropshire town today after a 100-tonne mound of rubber went up in flames.

The blaze at the Wem Industrial Estate broke out in the early hours and was thought to involve a massive pile of recycled rubber.

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Firefighters battled to douse the flames at the scene of the fire at Kingpin Tyres Ltd on the edge of the town shortly before 4am.

Eye witnesses said they saw smoke pouring into the sky. The fire was expected to be smouldering for a number of days and the cause is currently being investigated.

William Nevett, estate manager at the Wem Industrial Estate, said today the fire was picked up on the security cameras at about 3.50am and it was likely to smoulder for the next two or three days.

Mr Nevett said: "Three fire engines attended very quickly. It was an excellent attendance. I can't say enough how promptly the fire brigade acted. They got it under control very quickly.

"The flames were very high. It will probably smoulder for the next two or three days. It is well under control now."

Fire crews from Wem and Prees were sent to the fire at the Soulton Road site.

One eyewitness, who asked not to be named, said: "I saw smoke billowing from behind the building and about four or five firefighters spraying water on to a tall pile of burning rubble. The pile was about 12 feet tall."

Firefighters managed to stop the flames from spreading from the open area to nearby buildings.

Watch manager Phil Smith, from Wem fire station, said: "We could see it as we were approaching from Wem so we knew we had got quite a major incident.

"We had three main jets and one hose reel jet covering the building.

"I requested the incident commander from Shrewsbury due to the unknown cause. It is still being investigated by the fire service."

He added: "It is going to burn for most of the day."

Mark Cartwright, factory manager at Kingpin Tyres Ltd, said: "It's not tyres or shreds of tyres, just the waste product. The building was not damaged at all. The alarm was raised by a member of staff who was on site."

Mr Cartwright said bosses did not know what had caused the fire but that it was still smouldering as of 11am and no-one had been harmed.

By Deborah Collins