AROUND 70 firefighters tackled a warehouse fire at Gregory Distribution in North Tawton last Thursday morning. Thick smoke was seen pouring through the roof of the building into the sky after the fire broke out at 8.55am. The firm, one of the largest transport businesses in the South West, is not sure how the fire started but there was a combustion in the corner of the building with the fire quickly spreading to nearby pallets of flat-packed cardboard boxes. The building contained 10m x 10m compartments, sections of which were severely damaged by fire and heat as the blaze spread towards the ceiling. Firefighters were also concerned as small quantities of chemicals may have been involved in the fire as a quantity of empty chemical drums were in the single story building. They were concerned about the possible presence of peroxyacetic acid, acetic acid and hydrogen peroxide and used environmental spill kits at the scene. A contractor, who was working in the warehouse, sustained burns to his left arm and the top of his left leg and was taken to hospital for treatment, but his injuries were not life-threatening. Bob Dobson, human resources director at Gregory Distribution, said: ?Hopefully, the disruption to the business will be minimal, but the most important thing of all was that nobody was seriously injured.? Mr Dobson praised the quick response of the fire service. ?Several of the local fire brigade actually work here so that helped them to respond quickly and have a knowledge of the depot,? he said. Ten fire appliances from across Devon were called to the blaze. As well as the North Tawton crew, those from Okehampton, Hatherleigh Chagford, Tavistock, Crediton, Exeter, Chulmleigh, Witheridge and Ilfracombe attended. The firefighters used six breathing apparatus, two hosereels, jets, a hydraulic platform for ventilation and water from a street hydrant and open water supplies were also utilised. The fire was under control within two hours. Gregory Distribution is investigating the cause of the fire and says it hopes the building may be in use again in a few weeks.
