22 April 2009

Around 20 firefighters managed to prevent a fire at an industrial unit on a farm from spreading to an adjacent equestrian centre yesterday afternoon.

Crews from Winslow, Buckingham, Bletchley and Waddesdon were called to the fire in Little Horwood Road, Mursley, at 3.46pm. At its peak, it created a plume of smoke visible from 15 miles away.

The fire involved a wood compacting machine, about 10 tonnes of scrap timber, four ISO containers, a double decker bus and two LPG cylinders, which exploded while firefighters were at the scene.

Two of the five appliances at the incident were water tankers, which were able to provide a constant supply of water even though the nearest hydrant was about a mile away.

Station Manager Geoff Bottle, who also attended the incident, said: “Obviously the safety of the people and animals near the fire was our main concern, and a cordon was set up until the fire was out and we were certain there were no more cylinders involved.

“As well as protecting the equestrian centre by ensuring that the fire didn’t spread to it, firefighters monitored the smoke plume because of the potential effect on the local community. There was a good wind and it took it high.

“The water carriers from Bletchley and Waddesdon played a vital part in preventing this from becoming a more protracted incident, and we were able to scale it down within three hours.”

Firefighters carried out a final reinspection at the site shortly before 10pm.