Buildings 'saved from destruction' - Fire crews save Leeds buildings from 'certain destruction'

 

Buildings 'saved from destruction' 

More than 100 firefighters tackling a huge blaze on an industrial estate in Leeds save nearby buildings from "certain destruction".

• 'Massive clouds of thick black smoke'

  21 April 2014 Last updated at 12:07 GMT

Fire crews save Leeds buildings from 'certain destruction'

Ian Dunkley, from West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue, said they were trying to get to the seat of the fire

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• Huge fire on Leeds industrial estate

More than 100 firefighters tackling a huge blaze on an industrial estate in Leeds saved nearby buildings from "certain destruction".

Crews battled the fire at chemical recycling firm Tradpak in Armley, which sent flames and a plume of thick smoke over the city at 01:50 BST.
A fire service spokesman said "a significant number" of properties were saved from "certain destruction".
West Yorkshire Police said it was now investigating the cause of the blaze.

Firefighters saved a number of nearby buildings from 'certain destruction' in the blaze at Tradpak, Armley

Nearby roads were closed and buildings, including a nightclub, were evacuated.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said there was a large amount of chemicals and cylinders at the Albion Way site.
People in the city centre have been warned to keep windows and doors closed due to potentially hazardous chemicals on the site.

West Yorkshire Police is now investigating the cause of the blaze

By 10:00 BST crews had been scaled back as they brought the fire under control but are expected to remain at the scene for the rest of the day.
'Like Armageddon' Anja Swan, a student at Leeds Metropolitan University, said she heard explosions that sounded like thunder.
"I called my friend and they said they could see a fire so we had a walk down", she said.
"We could see massive, massive clouds of thick black smoke, just billowing out into the air. We could see this even from our house about half a mile or so away.
"There were fireballs shooting. It was really ferocious. Like Armageddon.

Fire crews have been scaled back but are expected to stay at the scene throughout the day

"There were quite a lot of people on the streets who had been evacuated from buildings.
"It's a really huge fire. It was really quite scary. It was absolutely massive."
The fire service urged people not come to watch crews dealing with the fire, which has been "surrounded".
Area fire manager Ian Dunkley said: "The initial crews were trying to protect surrounding properties and, in fact, we've saved three surrounding businesses which will be available to open tomorrow."
Twitter users said they had been in the nearby Canal Mills nightclub when it was evacuated because of the fire.
Pat Hickey wrote: "Got evacuated from Canal Mills. Leeds is on fire."

Eyewitness Gemma Rathbone: "We could see massive clouds of thick black smoke"

Gemma Rathbone, who lives about half a mile from the site of the fire, said she was woken up by loud bangs at about 02:30 BST.
She and her housemate drove to the estate and said the roads were already blocked off by the police but there were large numbers of people about.
"There were lots of people who had just come out of the club," she said.
"It was just huge, absolutely massive, there was lots and lots of black smoke and there were still explosions. You could see when the fire got to a new bit of the building because there would be more explosions, it would go bang."

The fire burned throughout the night sending thick plumes of smoke over the city

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