SIX fire crews battled for hours to extinguish a blaze in a car breakers yard.

A pile of scrap caught fire in Autobreak, in Haven Road, Colchester, yesterday at 9.45am.

The wind caused the flames to spread to a pile of tyres and other scrap.

The blaze saw smoke billowing at least 50ft into the air and nearby residents and businesses were told to keep their windows closed because of the fumes.

A police officer at the scene said the force’s helicopter could see the plume from Southend.

The owners of the 2.5-acre yard raised the alarm.

Six fire engines attended and Essex Police closed Haven Road to traffic.

The closure was in place for most of yesterday.

Danny Partridge, the fire service’s incident commander, said: “The area measures 40 metres by 30 metres, so it is an incident of some scale.

“It started in the area where they de-pollute the vehicles.

“Thankfully there was no oil or fuel in the are.

“With the smoke we are seeing, we are trying to establish the wind direction for the rest of the day. We are telling people to keep their windows closed for the day.”

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Picture by Amy Tuscher

Nearby residents described first seeing large flames and hearing explosions from about 9.40am.

Alex Stevenson, 39, who lives off nearby Hesper Road, said: “The first we knew was when I started to smell smoke through the window.

“I looked outside and the flames were up above the trees in the yard.

“It seemed huge. The smoke was going all the way up to the heavens.

“I suppose the smoke probably made it look bigger than it was, but it seemed to go on forever.”

Plumber Michael Johnson, who works near the scene, added: “I couldn’t believe it when I looked out.

“There was smoke everywhere. It just kept going. There were flames as well.

“You could see the firemen trying to get as much water on to the base as possible but it seemed so strong and the flames just kept coming back.”

Another man who was watching the incident unfold said: “I was out with the dog and all of a sudden all I could see was this huge plume of smoke.

“It was huge. I didn’t know where it was coming from so I followed it here to the yard.

“It was so thick, I’m sure the guys fighting it would need breathing stuff.

“I had to get away from it because it was choking the dog.”

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Students who live in nearby apartment blocks also watched as firefighters tackled the blaze.

One said: “We had the window open in the kitchen and I looked up and there was this big fire.

“I could see flames, but the smoke was so big.”

Residents reported seeing the plume from across the town.

Relief fire crews from Dovercourt, Weeley, Great Dunmow, Halstead remained at the scene yesterday evening.

Crews had used hose reels and bulk foam to tackle the fire.

Essex Police launched a drone to survey the site.

  • BREAKERS yard staff called 999 as soon as the fire ignited.

The cause of the fire, in Autobreak, off Haven Road, is yet to be determined, but fire investigators have launched an investigation.

A spokesman for the yard said: “We rang the fire brigade as soon as we saw what was happening.

“With something like that, you don’t try anything, you just call 999 straight away.

“Thankfully nobody was hurt.

“We aren’t open to the public and I think it will be too soon [on Friday] but we’re aiming to get to back to business as usual.”

It is hoped the site will be open to the public again on Monday.

UK Powers Networks attended to turn off the electricity supply in the area.

Environment Agency staff were also called to the yard, which is regulated by the government body.

A spokeswoman said she was satisfied the water and foam used to fight the fire had not caused any significant impact on the environment.

She said: “The site operator has arranged for a tanker to pump out and remove residual contaminated water and foam.”

It was not necessary to use air quality monitoring equipment because the fire was extinguished relatively quickly.

There will not be a Health and Safety Executive investigation.

  • Click here for all the videos and pictures from the scene.