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Scrapyard timber goes up in flames

Frank Wood
24/ 7/2008

MORE than 500 tonnes of reclaimed timber went up in flames in a Heywood scrap yard after a suspected arson attack.

Fire officers say they believe the fire, in the early hours of Wednesday at the yard of James Hartley scrap dealers in Hooley Bridge, was started deliberately.

Flames from the 20-foot high burning mound of timber engulfed a large machine which turns old wood into tiny particles for chipboard manufacturers, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.

A spokesman for the company said: "We haven’t been able to assess the full cost of the damage yet because the fire crews are still at the scene, but it will run into many thousands of pounds.

"The chipping machine has been very badly damaged, but we may be able to repair it.

"There have been timber fires in the past few weeks at Horwich and Gorton and I think kids round here have seen the reports and tried to copy them."

Fire crews were alerted at 2am on Wednesday and were still damping down at 10am.

Bamford Road had to be closed during the morning rush hour because hoses were laid across it.

Crew commander Gary Wilkinson said: "We had 20 firefighters at the scene and also brought in an aerial monitor from Oldham to fight the fire from above.

"Fortunately, somebody from the company was quickly at the scene and we were able to establish that there were no gas cylinders near the fire."