Investigation after explosion and huge fire destroy building
AN INVESTIGATION is underway into the cause of a major fire at an industrial unit in Pontypridd.
People living nearby reported hearing explosions after a number of a number of gas cylinders were said to have “exploded”.
A car body repair workshop was completely destroyed.
A number of burnt out lorries, cars and vans can be seen inside the building, which is the base for J Gwynne Commercials.
Vehicles inside and outside the unit have been damaged.
The business owner was at the site this morning to survey the damage and said he was “absolutely devastated”.
The company has been in business for more than 20 years and specialises in the commercial side of vehicle repair.
It is being reported that the fire started in a neighbouring unit and then spread.
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said officers were called to a fire at Glyntaff Sidings on Pentrebach Road at 7pm on Wednesday.
The unit is close to the busy A470 and the University of South Wales Campus in Treforest.
A spokeswoman for the Welsh Ambulance Service said the fire happened at an auto-body repair shop and that nobody was in the building at the time.
She said: “Possible acetylene cylinders have exploded”.
A number of homes on Pentrebach Road and Graig-Y-Helfa Road were evacuated as a precaution but residents were allowed back in a short time later.
Residents were advised to keep their windows and doors shut.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Terry Quick, 65, has only moved into his home on Graig-Yr-Helfa Road, situated above the site of the fire, this week.
“They first blocked off Pentrebach Road so traffic coming down our road,” he said. “The smoke was thick, toxic looking. At on point I was going worried about what was going up in the air with all those explosions and where is it going to land.”
Terry and his neighbours were asked to leave their houses at about 7.30pm and were not allowed to return until after 9pm.