'It has caused a lot of concern': Councillor says possible prosecution could follow Chirk fire

Councillor Frank Hemmings, who represents Chirk on Wrexham Council said that the fire, which has burned at the Kronospan factory on the outskirts of the town for four days, has caused great concern and worry for townspeople.

And he has said the plant needs to be made safe so that nothing like this happens again.

The fire broke out in an isolated wood pile on Monday. A 100m-long wall of raw timber at the panel plant was ablaze and firefighters worked round the clock to try and prevent it spreading. Firefighters from North Wales Fire and Rescue have been on site for the past four days tackling the fire and damping down the flames.

Coverage so far:

• Councillor calls for independent inquiry into Kronospan fire

• Emergency council meeting called as Kronospan fire in Chirk enters third day

• 'There is a serious risk to people's lives': Concern after string of fires at factory

• Chirk residents urged to close windows and doors as Kronospan fire rages on

• Fire continues to rage at Kronospan factory in Chirk as company promises 'full enquiry'

• Firefighters spend 12 hours battling Kronospan factory blaze in Chirk

Residents have been told to keep their doors and windows closed and children at the town's Ysgol y Waun School had been kept indoors.

The school has however this morning confirmed on social media they will now be allowing children to once again go outdoors after officials from Kronospan met with fire crews at 9am and confirmed there is no longer any smoke being produced.

Factory and Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) chiefs said no toxic materials had been burned in the incident - only timber - after concerns were raised.

Councillor Hemmings said: "On Wednesday a large part of the town and the Lodgevale Park were filled with smoke. People were rightly concerned.

"There have been fires here on a number of occasions and they have been for different circumstances and on different parts of the site. This was due to the storage of logs on the other side of the plant. I understand they had brought in extra stock for the Christmas period. Spontaneous combustion is one of those strange things and is very rare.

"It has caused a lot of concern in the town and I hope there will be a big investigation. Wrexham Council and Kronospan need to get to the bottom of this.

"I would imagine there will be some sort of prosecution.

"It has been very worrying for the local community and we do not want this happening again. We just want everything to be made safe at the plant."

A spokeswoman for North Wales Fire and Rescue said: "Crews are still on site at the Kronospan fire in Chirk damping down hotspots.

"There is very little smoke leaving the site at present and any smoke is heading North/West. If residents do have any concerns about the smoke, information is available from Public Health Wales."

Kronospan echoed the fire service's comments, directing concerned residents to Public Health Wales.