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Featherstone set for answers over fireball inferno
WRECKAGE: The aftermath of the explosion at Welburn Transport in Featherstone.
Worried residents in Featherstone will finally get answers about a devastating explosion that forced hundreds of them from their homes.
Fire service officials this week pledged to present a full report to Wakefield Council’s community safety watchdogs after facing questions about the explosion last year which saw 300ft flames shoot into the sky over the former pit town.
As reported in the YEP last week, senior officers were asked to attend the meeting of the council’s community safety overview and scrutiny committee where they were grilled about the terrifying blast at Welburn Transport, on Church Lane on the evening of Thursday, March 31 last year.
A definitive cause of the blaze, which saw a 4,500 litre diesel tank explode, has never been established because of the catastrophic damage.
But at Monday’s meeting, Incident Commander Steve Fealy said investigations pointed to one possible cause being embers from a nearby garden fire which had set cardboard boxes on the site alight.
Members of the committee said they were concerned about a perceived lack of feedback to the community following the fire, which involved 30 firefighters tackling the flames, a 200m exclusion zone put in place around the site and the closure of local roads and a school.
Committee member Coun Graham Isherwood said: “There are people in that area that are still very concerned. They want to know what was the reason for it, why did it happen and can it happen again?”
He added: “We need a report that we can go to the people with.”
Mr Fealy, alongside District Commander Martin Langan, said they would prepare a report for the committee.
Mr Fealy added: “We are more than happy to come and speak to that local community, to talk about the incident.”
The committee also discussed the storage and use of acetylene cylinders which were on the site. They were shown footage of explosions which can be caused by the cylinders.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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