Blaze left residents out of homes for up to nine hours

Residents houses dwarfed by flames and smoke

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The fire that started in a Littleborough factory forced residents to be evacuated from their homes and left them unable to return for up to nine hours.

The blaze, which created a thick, black plume of smoke that could be seen for miles around, began just before 1pm on Monday after an explosion at Multi Roof Building Products at Stansfield Mill, Calderbrook Road.

Terrified residents were either evacuated from their homes or told to stay indoors as ten fire crews attempted to tackle the inferno.

Michael Flaxon, of Norfolk Close, was evacuated along with his disabled mother. He said: “We were in the back garden and we heard a fizz and then a pop. We glanced around at the tanks at the mill and saw flames lapping around the top. Then there were a series of louder pops, followed by about four almighty explosions which shook the houses.

“By the time I got my mum across the road all the tanks were on fire. It was raining black molten stuff down on top of us so we all had to get out the way as quick as we could.
“We got back into our houses at 9.40pm that night.”

Tracey Thompson lives on Drake Road. She wasn’t evacuated but remained in her house throughout the day. She said: “I was sat in the house and my door literally came in and then out. I really thought there was a light aircraft that had come down with the big black plume of smoke. It was horrible.
“It’s affected my dog, Bella. Any bang or knock she’s straight inside and shaking.

“It took about 20 minutes to get hold of any ambulance or fire services. There were that many calls you just couldn’t get through.
“It was terrifying. We’d like to know what the chemicals were that went up, in terms of after-effects.”

Fire crews are still attending the scene to deal with the disposal of chemicals. Andy Bracknell, of Littleborough Fire Station, said: “The investigation into how the fire was started is still going on. We still have crews at the scene because we’ve found a chemical leak from one of the tanks, that is likely to have been caused by the fire. It’s a solvent leak and it is being decanted into containers.

“We have an environmental responsibility to stop these chemicals from getting into water courses and drains.”

The fire service confirmed that there is no risk to residents who have all been safely returned to their homes.

The top end of Calderbrook Road remains closed.