More than 100 tyres torched in industrial site arson attack (From St Helens Star)

More than 100 tyres torched in industrial site arson attack

10:35am Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News By Stephen Mather, Senior reporter

MORE than 100 lorry and truck tyres and a pile of rubbish was set on fire by arsonists, sending plumes of thick, grey smoke across parts of the town.

Firefighters were called to an unoccupied industrial site on Ravenhead Road, following at least 15 calls from concerned members of the public.

Crews from St Helens, Eccleston, Whiston and Huyton attended the scene shortly after 4.30pm on Sunday (September 2).

They found a large pile of rubbish well alight, near to an empty business unit.
Using hoses and ground monitors, which spray water onto fires automatically and after about two hours, the incident was scaled down.

The fire service’s Incident Investigation Team said it was an arson attack and traced the fire to a fibreglass container, where the tyres were stored.

A member of the investigation team said: “This was a private property of a company that had gone into receivership.

“The tyres and rubbish are most likely to have been illegally fly-tipped on the site and it posed a huge fire risk.

“We work with our partners and police to combat fire risks such as this in the community.

"We investigate the cause of every fire we are called to and we pass the information we gather to the police to help them build cases to help prosecute offenders.”

“The blaze caused severe damage to part of the wall of the unit along with a ground floor room and first floor office.”