Kentish Express Ashford & District
ELECTRICAL FAULT SPARKED HUGE FIRE
MASSIVE BLAZE BURNED FOR MORE THAN THREE DAYS
A massive industrial estate fire that burned for more than three days was started by an accidental electrical fault.
An investigation by the fire service has revealed the blaze on Cobbs Wood was started by an issue with the power supply to an industrial machine.
A huge plume of smoke was sent into the sky as the fire raged at LMR Tyre Recycling in Hanover Close off Brunswick Road last Tuesday.
One man was taken to hospital with burns and smoke inhalation, while fire services remained at the scene until Friday when the flames were finally extinguished.
At its height, 15 fire engines and more than 60 firefighters attended the blaze, which destroyed at least one warehouse and a car.
Keen Ashford photographer
Andy Clark described the site as a “scene of devastation”.
Waste collection company Biffa, which runs a warehouse caught up in the blaze, has managed to keep recycling and rubbish collections going in the Ashford area despite the damage.
Last Tuesday, the thick black smoke could be seen as far away as Seasalter near Whitstable.
Fire is always destructive and horrific when it affects our lives, our homes and often our businesses, and the massive blaze at Cobbs Wood Industrial
Estate which destroyed LMR Tyre Recycling and part of the Biffa Municipal site adjacent is no exception.
The town has had its fair share of disastrous fires over the decades and last Tuesday’s blaze will enter the history books insomuch it was seen far and wide.
The fire wasn’t helped by the copious amounts of burning rubber at the site which at, one point, endangered many other businesses such as Channel Commercials next door.
Luckily, fires of this scale and type are a rarity, but those involving tyres can burn for days and days as Tuesday’s blaze showed.
We have to commend Kent Fire and Rescue Service for its efforts to avert even more of a disaster than there was.
Things were bad enough for the firefighters tasked with fighting the fire.
I am aware that crews from across Kent were responsible for bringing the fire to an end.
One would hope that those involved and who were either injured or whose business has been affected can get back to normality soon.
Upon visiting the scene last week, the damage was substantial and it is clear that perhaps authorities should rethink when it comes to allowing businesses with such flammable stock to be so close together.
Cobbs Wood was one of the first industrial estates in the town and it is perhaps not sensible to store the large amount of tyres involved in the fire at such an integrated site.
The buildings are in close proximity to one another.
This week, Remember When takes a look back at three notable fires in the town over the last 50 years.
Do you have any photographs or slides of old Ashford you would be willing to loan me to enable them to be scanned for possible feature in the Kentish Express?
Please don’t delay, feel free to get in touch.
Write to me: Steve Salter, Kentish Express Remember When, Unit 4, Park Mall Shopping Centre, Ashford, Kent, TN24 8RY.
Email me: rememberwhen_ kmash@hotmail.co.uk
Or you can also leave a telephone message for me with brief details by calling the Kentish Express office in Park Mall on 01233 623232.