Firefighters battle biomass building blaze near Market Drayton
Firefighters from all over Shropshire were needed to extinguish a fire at a biomass facility.
A fire was reported at a business property in Bletchley, near Market Drayton, shortly before 10pm last night.
Crews were sent from Market Drayton and Hodnet, later backed up by firefighters from Prees and Shrewsbury.
A statement from the Market Drayton fire crew said: "On arrival at the scene the crews were confronted with a fully-developed fire, which involved a biomass boiler system within a metal clad building measuring approximately 20m by 25m.
"The incident commander immediately made the decision that rapid and assertive firefighting was required, and committed two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus into the building, to begin firefighting using a high pressure hose reel jet.
"Due to the fire spreading through the insulation and possibly effecting the roof, an assistance message was sent to fire control requesting a third fire appliance and an aerial ladder platform.
"On receipt of this message fire control mobilised the rescue pump from Prees and the aerial ladder platform from Shrewsbury.
"A further two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were committed into the building, to assist in preventing the fire spreading further using a high pressure hose reel.
Challenging conditions
"On arrival of the third appliance from Prees a water-ferrying operation was put in place from a nearby fire hydrant.
"The aerial ladder platform was set up to inspect the roof for any signs of the fire having spread to it, thankfully this proved not to be the case with the fire being contained to the biomass system.
"The crews worked hard in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control within approximately 45 minutes of the first appliance arriving.
"Crews remained on scene for approximately another three hours damping down, cutting away burnt insulation and utilising thermal imaging cameras to check for any hidden fire spread.
"We would like to praise onsite staff for their prompt actions in isolating the biomass system and electrics to the building, and for providing essential information to the incident commander when required.
"We are pleased to report that there were no injuries at this incident.
“The fire is believed to have been started by a defect within the biomass system.”
