Council bosses are left puzzled by second fire inside road sweeper
COUNCIL bosses say they do not currently know the cause of the incident after a second of its road sweepers caught fire in less than three months.
Crews from Rawtenstall and Haslingden were called out at around 11.55am on Thursday, May 13 after the sweeper began to spout flames in the area of Grane Road, Haslingden.
The earlier incident on the afternoon of Friday, February 26 saw firefighters attend Downham Avenue in Constable Lee to extinguish a fire on a different vehicle.
A Rossendale council spokesperson said: “The fire which happened this week was not the same vehicle as the one that caught fire in February.
“We have not yet been able to ascertain the root cause of the fire. It was the same make/manufacturer as the previous vehicle, and we have been in contact with the company to notify them of the incident and to see if they are aware of any further issues.
“All our vehicles undergo daily driver inspections, and we also inspect and service the vehicles every three to four months. This particular vehicle was last serviced on March 8, 2021 and it was also inspected by the Department for Transport on March 26 as part of its annual MOT.
“Until we conclude our investigations, we won’t be in a position to say conclusively what caused the fire and will be looking at hiring a replacement in the interim.”
A Lancashire Fire & Rescue service spokesman said two fire engines attended the scene and firefighters were at the scene for around 25 minutes. They used two breathing apparatus and two hose reels to extinguish the fire. No ambulance was called, but the police were called to help with traffic management.