FOUR fire crews tackled a serious blaze at a unit in Burnley yesterday morning.
The crews were called to Coal Clough Lane at around 10.30am and arrived to find huge orange flames billowing out from the side of the building.
The single-storey building was almost completely destroyed by the inferno and a large part of its roof collapsed.
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Firefighters were at the scene for more than five hours and electricity in the area had to be switched off for most of the day.
The incident occurred during a time when members of the fire services were on strike.
The unit is all owned by a Burnley joiner, who did not wish to be named, and was used as a store for timber and other materials and machinery.
A firefighter who was at the scene said: “We do not know at this stage what has caused the blaze. It is under investigation.
“The police and ourselves cordoned off the road as we were concerned about the number of combustables inside the building but thankfully, everything was ok.”
Jessica Kedie, who lives in Coal Clough Lane with her three-month-old son, said: “It was quite scary.
“My boyfriend came downstairs this morning and just saw the building across the road from us on fire. He shouted me to come down and I couldn’t believe it.
“You could see flames coming right out of the side of the building. It was very scary.
“I’ve only lived here a few months and it was a real shock. I thought we were all going to have to be evacuated.”
Another resident, Stephen Jackson said: “I’ve lived here for 28 years and that building has always been used as a joiner’s shop and for storage.
“He’s had it a long while so it’s a real shame. It looks like it’s all gone now. It was a really big blaze but the fire brigade were already here by the time I noticed it.”
Several homes were also without water due to the fire.
United Utilities used the Fire Service mains network to eliminate the fire, causing no water and reduced pressure to the area.
Water was cut off just after 12 noon, and the flow was restored at 5pm, although it took up to two hours for some supplies to return to normal.
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