Fire at Moss Mill on Woodbine Street East

Fire at Moss Mill on Woodbine Street East

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Fire Fighters are tackling a fire at Moss Mill on Woodbine Street East, Rochdale.

There are six fire engines on site tackling the fire. The fire is currently contained to one unit of the mill which is situated on the ground floor.

A public support unit is also on site.

The Fire Service were called at 12:40pm today (Monday 3 November) to reports of a fire and believe that the fire may have started due to overhead lighting, but that has not yet been confirmed.

Workers from the site were evacuated from the building just before their break at 1pm.

One witness said: “We usually have a break at about 1pm and we were told to get out just before then. We’re not sure what has happened yet.”

Another said: “I think it’s an accidental fire in one of the units. From what I know everyone got out.”

Julia Shone, from Brennard Textiles, which is located in the mill, said: “It has affected us badly. With a family business things are always up and down and now for this to happen, it’s not good.

"We are not sure what is going on yet and we haven’t had any updates from the fire service or the manager of the building but from the looks of the smoke, it looks like things are going to be badly damaged.

“We don’t know what caused it yet but my son [who I am in business with] was in the building at the time and he said he could smell something like an electrical fault or an electrical fire.

“It’s just a nightmare and we don’t know what to expect when we can go back in.”

It is understood that the fire is taking a bit longer than usual to tackle due to access to the unit.

The Fire Service is currently receiving a number of calls from people in the Rochdale area in regards to seeing smoke. If anyone does see the smoke in the area, they do not need to call as the blaze is controlled.

No injuries have been reported.