A HUGE fire tore through a skip hire firm, causing several explosions and leaving thousands of pounds of uninsured damage.

Up to 45 firefighters tackled the blaze at TCS Waste in Heys Lane, Great Harwood, which wrecked the plant, four skip wagons and other industrial machinery.

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Company boss Jimmy Miller, from Altham, has been left counting the cost in the wake of the incident. It follows another fire, last November, which left him with a £60,000 bill.

Roads surrounding the unit were closed for several hours yesterday after huge clouds of thick, black and toxic smoke rose into the sky from 6.30am.

Last night Andy Pennington, a crew manager at Hyndburn, confirmed the cause of the incident was ‘possibly suspicious’ and was being handed to a trained service investigator for further enquiries.

An initial assessment has pinpointed one of the skips within the main building as the possible starting point of the blaze.

Six fire engines were called, including a turntable ladder, and a hazardous materials truck was also deployed to prevent waste water from reaching nearby Tinker Brook.

Mr Miller, of Burnley Road, said four skip wagons and several pieces of industrial equipment were destroyed.

He confirmed only the wagons were insured.

“The big building has gone up in flames this time,” he said.

“It sounds silly but I will not worry myself to death. I didn’t hear about the fire until 8.30am. A local lad rang me and said, ‘I’m sure your building is on fire.”

Mr Miller, who estimated a fire in cabins last November cost the business £60,000, spent the majority of yesterday dealing with the aftermath of the blaze.

Operation Merlin, the brigade’s special response plan to chemical incidents, was launched after fire crews became sufficiently concerned about the toxicity of the black smoke, billowing out across Great Harwood.

They had planned to get inside the large building wearing breathing masks until explosions forced a retreat.

Firefighters instead used an aerial ladder platform to attack the flames with a jet from above until the cause of the explosions could be explained.

They were later found to be caused by tyres on the skip wagons bursting, although oxygen and propane cylinders were also found.

A Lancashire Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “We were called at 6.30am and had four fire engines there. The fire was breaking through the roof so we asked for six fire engines and an aerial ladder platform.

“There was also a hazardous materials unit to deal with toxic waste for environmental protection.

“We had firefighters trying to get in the building, but there were then a couple of minor explosions inside the property.

“They withdrew for their own safety while the aerial ladder platform was putting water on the fire.

“Operation Merlin was stood down at 1pm, with only a handful of firefighters remaining at the scene to dampen down.”

Even beyond police cordons, the smell of burning lingered in the air, while white ash particles fell onto the cars of shoppers at Tesco in Queen Street — around 300 metres away.

Traffic travelling down Heys Lane, Hyndburn Road, Wood Street, and parts of Whalley Road and Alan Ramsbottom Way was diverted.

Local councillor Noordad Aziz said: “The fire caused some disruption but not much because people were using alternative routes.

“I could see the big puff of smoke going across the town so I knew something was going on.

“I have not seen anything like this in Great Harwood for years. I hope nobody was seriously hurt and Mr Miller has not lost too much.

“We need to find out why fires keep happening, and hopefully the police will get to the root of it all.”