60 firefighters tackle blaze at Wigan borough industrial yard

Roughly 60 Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service (GMFRS) firefighters were called to tackle a blaze in a warehouse yard in Ashton last night.
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Crews were called just after 9.30pm on Saturday 24 April to reports of a fire affecting wooden pallets and packed plastic and cardboard stacked outdoors at the Poundland distribution centre in Three Sisters Road.

Firefighters from stations including Agecroft, Atherton, Bolton Central, Bolton North, Cheadle, Hindley, Leigh, Manchester Central and Wigan were quickly on the scene and found a fire well ablaze, measuring roughly 30m by 30m. They were supported by crews from Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside.

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At the height of the incident, approximately 60 firefighters and 12 appliances - including support from Fire and Rescue Service personnel from Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside - were engaged in extinguishing a quantity of wooden pallets, cardboard and plastic which was well alight in the open air.

Crews worked hard to contain the blaze to the yard and prevent it spreading to nearby buildings.

The fire service released images this morning of the aftermath of the blaze, with mounds of charred materials and burned out vehicle trailers seen among the wreck.

A spokesperson from Poundland said: "Crews from Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service were called on Saturday evening to a fire in the yard at our Ashton-In-Makerfield distribution centre near Wigan.

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"The fire started in bales of materials stored there for recycling.

The aftermath of the blaze. Image: GMFRSThe aftermath of the blaze. Image: GMFRS
The aftermath of the blaze. Image: GMFRS

"We're grateful for the rapid response of GMFRS and they quickly had the situation under control.

"We're pleased to say all our colleagues were safely evacuated and were accounted for.

"The building itself wasn't impacted, and having been given the all-clear, we've already regained access and resumed operations.

"We expect minimal impact on those operations.

The aftermath of the blaze. Image: GMFRSThe aftermath of the blaze. Image: GMFRS
The aftermath of the blaze. Image: GMFRS
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"It goes without saying we'll be working with the GMFRS and the police as they investigate the cause of the fire."

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