Scrapyard inferno

MORE than 120 firefighters battled a raging inferno at a scrapyard on North Quay, Newhaven, on Wednesday.

MORE than 120 firefighters battled a raging inferno at a scrapyard on North Quay, Newhaven, on Wednesday.

The fire at Jordans in North Quay Road began in a mountain of 2,000 scrap cars in the early hours.

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Newhaven, Seaford and Lewes fire crews were first on the scene at around 1am, they were followed shortly after by crews from East and West Sussex to make a total of 20 engines with two aerial ladders.

Firefighters tackled the rapidly growing blaze, fuelled by tonnes of rubber and plastic.

Massive clouds of smoke obliterated the North Quay at dawn and billowed towards Denton and Seaford. Rush hour traffic slowed to a crawl as motorists braked to watch the drama unfold.

People living nearby were warned not to unnecessarily breathe the fumes in case they were toxic. An East Sussex Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: 'People have been warned to keep windows and doors shut as a precaution. They need to be careful as we do not know what was in the scrapyard.

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Police closed North Quay Road and all surrounding business on the quay were unable to open on Wednesday morning. Employees arriving for work were turned away.

Len Richards, East Sussex Deputy Chief Fire Officer, said two major problems faced firefighters on their arrival.

Despite Jordan s being sited alongside the river, fire crews did not have enough water to tackle the blaze. Hydrant and water supplies were used but it was not until the tide rose at around 5am that they could pump water from the river.

The Deputy Fire Chief told the Express: 'We were hampered by water supplies because it was low tide and we were unable to use the river.

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And fire crews had to be aware of flammable liquids in the towering scrap heap and stop the fire spreading to diesel tanks in the yard.

Mr Richards said: 'There are a large quantity of flammable materials in a scrapyard, and the things that people throw away, like fridges and freezers, all have chemicals within them.

However, crews managed to confine the fire and stop it spreading to an even bigger stack of cars and old kitchen appliances.