Glass production at a Pilkington plant in north-east England was halted after a fire on 18 September 2007. About 40 firefighters fought the blaze, which threatened to sweep through the factory in Midd…
Glass production at a Pilkington plant in north-east England was halted after a fire on 18 September 2007. About 40 firefighters fought the blaze, which threatened to sweep through the factory in Middlesbrough. It was started by a short-circuit in a compressor, and spread to two offices, filling the rest of the building with smoke. Ten firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building to tackle the fire. Fire crews were at the scene for three hours and used heavy cutting equipment to break into the burning building. Cleveland Fire Brigade watch manager Alan Peirson said: “The fire itself was not very big, but there was a lot of sorting out, a lot of glass”. “The fire was under control fairly quickly”. A company spokeswoman said: “There was a small fire at our North Ormesby Road site in Middlesbrough at approximately 11pm. This was extinguished quickly by the local fire brigade”. “There was no-one working on site at the time. The building suffered extensive smoke damage and an investigation is currently underway to determine the cause of the fire”.