Sparks cause £700k blaze

Sparks from an angle-grinder were today blamed for starting a blaze which gutted a Kidderminster carpet warehouse causing damage costing £700,000.

Members of a fire investigation team have been at the scene of the blaze on the Gemini Business Park since it broke out, trying to determine what caused it.

They revealed today that Saturday morning's fire at Alcester Carpets was started accidentally by sparks which flew from an angle-grinder.

Structural engineers have said the building will need to be demolished and it could take more than a year before it is back in operation.

At the height of the blaze flames leapt 20 feet into the air and could be seen from as far away as Worcester.

More than 60 firefighters from Kidderminster, Bewdley, Stourport and elsewhere in the county were called to the scene.

They used an aerial platform ladder for the first time fitted with a thermal camera which enabled firefighters to pinpoint hotspots among the fire which were impossible to see through the plume of acrid black smoke that filled the air.

Alec Mackie, spokesman for Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service, said that ten fire engines had been called to the blaze.

"It appears that the fire involved synthetic materials which were cut up for recycling. Sparks from an angle-grinder are thought to have landed among the flammable materials and then smouldered before causing the fire."

Police closed off the Stourport Road as fire crews battled to control the blaze. Drivers were diverted around the Birchen Coppice Estate via the Loom and Shuttle pub further down the Stourport Road.

Christmas shoppers ended up being caught up in the delays.