FIRE-fighters from across the county spent most of Tuesday extinguishing a fire at a Wisbech scrap yard, which exploded into flames. Initial fears that fire crews would take several days to extinguish the fire at Denton’s in Osborne Road were eased

FIRE-fighters from across the county spent most of Tuesday extinguishing a fire at a Wisbech scrap yard, which exploded into flames.

Initial fears that fire crews would take several days to extinguish the fire at Denton’s in Osborne Road were eased when diggers were used to start breaking up the pile of scrap.

Steve Robinson, incident commander for the fire service, said on Tuesday: “We are now making real progress with the fire and, thanks to the help of a mechanical digger, we have now been able to make headway in extinguishing the flames a lot quicker than we anticipated.

“It has been very hard work for the crews at the scene and I would like to thank them for their efforts today in preventing the fire from spreading.”

Around 25 fire-fighters were called to the scrap yard at 4am Tuesday after Mark Sayer, director of Drake Towage marine contractors, heard the explosion and raised the alarm.

Mr Sayer, who lives on his business site in Crab Marsh, said: “I thought it was my electrical box explode so I looked out of the window and that’s when I saw some flames from the direction of the scrap yard.

“We are far enough away to be unaffected, but fire-fighters were struggling to tackle the fire because the water pressure is so low in this area. They have come through our premises to pump water from the river.”

Peter Ripley, of Kooreman Avenue, Wisbech, saw the bellowing smoke when he drove along Lynn Road shortly before 5am.

He said: “I always have a camera on me and I got a few pictures. I stayed down there for about an hour, but the heat from the fire was tremendous and there were a number of explosions from within the fire.”

Crews from Wisbech, West Walton, Outwell, Chatteris, Whittlesey, Sutton, Littleport and Peterborough attended throughout the day.

A high volume pump was also used to obtain a large, steady flow of water to tackle the flames.

Earlier today, fire-fighters were preparing to spend several days fighting the fire.

At the time Nick Foster, group manager for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “At the centre of the fire we actually have a situation where some of the metal is becoming molten, which will give you an idea of just how much heat is being generated.

“We are preparing to have a fire crew at this site for several days, as we predict that this fire will be burning for some time.”

The cause of the fire will be investigated as soon the flames are extinguished.