Fire crews have been called to Britain’s biggest steelworks after a suspected lightning strike sparked a blaze which saw six fire appliances attend, including an aerial unit.
Emergency services responded to reports of a blaze at the Port Talbot steelworks, south Wales, just after 8am on Thursday morning, according to Mid and West Wales fire and rescue.
By 9.30am the fire was isolated and power had been restored to the facility, a spokeswoman said. No one was hurt, but firefighters remained on the scene for some time afterwards in case the fire flared up again.
The south Wales steelworks is Britain’s biggest, accounting for about a third of the country’s total annual production, including every Heinz food tin sold in the UK, Nissan Juke car roofs and all new 1p and 2p coins.
The scene of the fire at Port Talbot Steelworks https://t.co/SIRUaJiCHa pic.twitter.com/SfnMzbXfIa
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Mike O’Neill, who was passing the steelworks at the time, told Wales Online: “My car shook with the explosion as I drove past. I can see massive 100ft flames. There was also a huge plume of black smoke.”
A Tata Steel spokesman said: “We can confirm that there has been a fire at our Port Talbot coke ovens this morning.
“No one was hurt. Following the necessary safety and operational checks, we will be looking to restart manufacturing operations today.
“Initial investigations suggest a lightning strike led to the fire at the site’s coke ovens.”
In January the company announced it would cut 750 jobs at the site, which employs more than 4,000 workers. Many contractors and service firms rely on the plant, so the direct job cuts are expected to have a larger knock-on effect across the region.
