A BARBECUE firm's factory was wrecked by a £1million blaze which could be seen for miles.

The biggest blaze seen in Burnley for decades destroyed two thirds of the Rectella International factory.

Company management were today trying to assess the damage and to make plans for the future.

About 100 people work at the recently refurbished factory, making barbecue equipment and instant lighting charcoal.

Deputy chief fire officer Gerry O'Neill said: "They put in fire walls between the warehouse and production site. Without that we would have had an even more difficult task."

At the height of the fire more than 100 firefighters from across the county and West Yorkshire helped to tackle the blaze, which sent a dense column of charcoal black, acrid smoke drifting across the town.

All 100 employees were evacuated safely from the premises in Bancroft Road on the Heasandford industrial estate as first smoke and then flames swept through parts of the building on the 6.5 acre former Compound Engineering site.

Workers at the nearby Michelin Tyre PLC plant were unable to get to their cars in Bancroft Road and many carried on working at the normal 2pm shift change-over.

Bancroft Road was closed and then cars were stopped from using Eastern Avenue because of the build up of traffic and danger of a possible explosion at the burning factory.

The fire broke out at about noon and was fought by 15 pumps. Mr O'Neill said the fire was intense because of the materials used in the manufacturing operation including wax and charcoal.

The factory occupies a site the size of three football pitches. By mid-afternoon they had managed to surround the fire, which affected two thirds of the site, and prevented it from spreading to the other third, which includes the administration area.

Workers said thick smoke rushed through the factory warehouse like a black wall.

Warehouse worker David Marshall said: "Everything suddenly went black, I have never seen anything like it."

David, of Nelson, said: "I was just walking through to the canteen when the smoke just came flying through.

"I wanted to go back for my coat because I had left money in the pocket but there was no chance. John, our supervisor, came and dragged us all out. He was brilliant."

Andrew Ennis, 18, of Peart Street, Burnley, works in the wax room.

His face already blackened through working with charcoal he said: "I was working away when I just happened to look up at the roof and saw loads of smoke coming through.

"There were four of us in the wax room and we got out through the emergency exits."

Warehouseman Barry Scott, 23, of Low Moor, Clitheroe, was in the warehouse near to where it is thought the fire broke out.

He said: "I suddenly saw a load of smoke and the alarms were going off. It was so black and intense that we all just ran for it. The place is full of wax and barbecue coals." Workers gathered in Bancroft Road and were moved more than 100 yards to the junction with Eastern Avenue.

They were joined by deputy manager Adam Barnes who said: 'We don't know how it started or even where. It was at the bottom end of the factory which is 30,000 square feet.

"The alarm went off and the place was quickly evacuated. We do fire drills every week."

A huge pall of thick black smoke blew across Bancroft Road preventing access.

A Michelin spokesman said: "Fortunately the wind was blowing the smoke away from us but it was preventing access to the site.

"When the shift changed at 2pm workers could not get to their cars. Those with cars have continued to work while some have left on foot via the top entrance (which leads into Widow Hill Road).

"We have coped with the situation fairly well."

Barbecue manufacturer Rectella International Ltd bought Burnley's former Belling factory in 1997 raising hopes of a major new jobs boost for the town.

The Clitheroe-based company, which makes Bar-Be-Quick instant barbecues, carried out a major refit at the 160,000 sq ft Heasandford Industrial Estate plant and has used the factory as its main distribution centre.

The company moved to Burnley to cope with ever-increasing demand for its foil and charcoal trays.

Rectella also has a large plastics business but has no connection with the company of the same name in Blackburn, which manufactures ready-made curtains.

The single-storey Burnley factory on a 6.5 acre site at Bancroft Road had been closed for two years.

More than 300 jobs were lost in 1992 when cooker parts manufacturers Compound Engineering closed following the collapse of parent company, Belling.

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