An industrial unit was destroyed by a major fire which saw 75 firefighters called to tackle it. Crews were called to the fire on Fengate Drove in Weeting, near Brandon, at around 2pm. The fire spread to several other buildings from where the fire started, which contained building materials. The scene shows buildings broken in their frames. Fire crews are at the scene of a commercial building fire in Brandon. – Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown But firefighters say they accomplished their primary goal of preventing the fire from spreading to the Harvest Center church next door to the burning building. Incident commander Paul Seaman said: “From Norfolk and Suffolk we have 75 people on site, including specialist equipment such as an aerial ladder platform and some of them will be on site for several hours. Fire crews are at the scene of a commercial building fire in Brandon. Paul Seaman- Chief of Norfolk Fire & Rescue Service. – Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown “When the first crews showed up, there was a significantly growing fire involving about 50% of the site.” They added that there is now no greater risk to the public, adding that they expect to scale back efforts in the coming hours. No one was injured in the fire. Fire crews are at the scene of a commercial building fire in Brandon. – Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown Police were also called to the scene to assist fire crews along with UK Power Networks who checked the scene was safe and an ambulance team was also on hand but was not used. A man who works at the industrial estate, but did not want to be named, said: “There are so many people standing around watching, everyone in the area has got out of their cars. The fire is believed to be at an industrial unit in Fengate Drove – Credit: Sarah Hussain “The flames are 15 feet high.” Those in the area at the time said it sounded like fireworks, with one person commenting he thought it was the Weeting Steam Rally at first. Fire crews are at the scene of a commercial building fire in Brandon. – Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown Conor Jordan, who is visiting his mum in the area, said: “We heard like fireworks and the dogs were barking like mad, we went outside and saw the smoke and a huge explosion and smoke. “It’s a real shock, everyone is so close here. There is no disbelief, it really never happens.” Smoke billows from building near Brandon. – Credit: Sarah Lucy Brown Another woman, who lives in the area and wished to remain anonymous, added: “At first I heard some banging and thought it was the steam rally but it was going to last a long time.” Fengate Drove has been closed while emergency services attend the incident – Credit: Sarah Hussain Firefighters will remain at the scene overnight.
