Asbestos warning after barn blaze
Thursday 13th May 2010, 12:39PM BST.
Villagers near Oswestry were forced to stay indoors after fears that asbestos fibres could blow over their homes when a blaze broke out in a barn.
Up to 40 tonnes of hay and straw and machinery were destroyed in the blaze at a farm on the edge of Morda.
The alarm was raised shortly after 3pm yesterday and it took firefighters just under two hours to bring the fire at the farm in Trefonen Road under control.
Fire crews from Oswestry were quickly on the scene but the blaze had already broken through the roof of the steel framed barn.
Station manager John Davies said there were fears there could be problems with asbestos fibres from corrugated roofing boards.
He said: “When asbestos boards explode in the heat of the fire, fibres are released. It is those fibres that could be hazardous.”
Firefighters knocked on the doors of nearby properties, urging residents to stay inside and keep doors and windows closed.
Mr Davies said: “It was quite windy last night and the smoke was blowing first one way and then the other. We had to ensure the firefighters kept out of the smoke.”
An incident commander and hazardous materials expert from Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service went to the scene.
Mr Davies said the decision was taken for firefighters to stay throughout the night to ensure the asbestos boards were kept wet and so prevent the fibres from escaping.
He said that a crew from Baschurch Fire Station took over from Oswestry followed by a full-time crew from Shrewsbury. Oswestry firefighters returned to the barn this morning.
No-one was hurt in the fire, which is not being treated as suspicious.
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