A MASSIVE fire swept through a scrapyard in Blackburn destroying more than 50 cars that were set to salvaged.
Eight fire engines attended the blaze at JAP Euro Motors in Sharples Street, during the early hours of yesterday morning (Sunday September 13).
It is thought the huge fire, which took four and a half hours to extinguish, started in the yard of the business at around 3.20am.
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At its height the flames were as high as neighbouring trees and they also spread to two adjacent businesses.
Around 12 scrap cars in the compound of J and J Autos were damaged in the blaze as was the side of a wagon parked at storage and handling company Gilbraiths.
The cause of the the blaze is currently under investigation but it is suspected the cars were deliberately set on fire.
It is the second major fire at the site in recent years according to co-owner Allowhdin Mehuddin and had left him and his brother Atif, who is also his business partner, reeling.
He said: “I’m devastated, it’s the second time this has happened since I took over the business four years ago.
“I’ve got a family at home to feed, what am I supposed to do now?
“It cost thousands of pounds last time to fix, but this is on a much bigger scale and we may have to close down.”
Atif said he was struggling to describe how upset he was.
He said: “I don’t know how or why someone would do something like this.
“I don’t know if I’m angry or sad, I can’t put it into words.”
Firefighters from Blackburn, Darwen, Bamber Bridge and Preston tackled the fire and used an aerial platform to help bring it under control.
Allowhdin said he believed that the fire had started by arsonists and he estimated several thousands pounds of damage had been caused.
He said: “All flammable liquids and materials are removed from the cars so I can’t see it starting by itself.
“I am frightened of this happen again. How will I know this won’t happen again?
“How big do I have to build the fence to keep people out? We have CCTV cameras but they can’t stop fires starting.”
Fire station manager Nick Ingham said: “We used the aerial platform to tackle the blaze and also had a hazardous team to prevent any traces of oil going into the street.
“The fire is being investigated.”
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