Emergency Services Prevent Huge Blast
By Jo Deeks on Thursday, 10th November 2005.
Police and firefighters have been praised for preventing a disaster after thieves caused a gas leak at a factory which could have resulted in a major explosion.
Police officers on patrol spotted a break-in had happened at Taylor's Foundry in Hollands Road Haverhill, and discovered a gas pipe had been ruptured.
The fire service was alerted and dealt with the leak. A police spokesman said a very serious incident had been avoided - an explosion could have levelled the factory.
Gerry Taylor, company chairman at Taylor's foundry, said the police had spotted that their gates were open in the early hours of Saturday morning, and had seen a roller-door was open. When they investigated, they could smell gas and heard the sound of it being released into the air. Mr Taylor said he was at the scene himself within five minutes, but was not allowed anywhere near the factory as the fire service sealed off the leak.
"For some reason the thieves decided to ram one of our furnaces, hitting the control panel, breaking the gas pipe and leaving it open to the elements. At 3am the furnace would have come on automatically and if the police had not noticed it, would have ignited the gas. A huge amount of gas would have gone into that building and it would have just blown the roof and walls up completely. We don't know why the alarm system did not go off, but we have now got a new system which is fully activated."
He said that the company would be able to carry on production and the furnace would be back in service soon, but he doubted whether he would ever get back aluminium ingots worth more than £2,000 that were stolen in the raid.
The break-in happened between 5.30pm on Friday and 12.55am on Saturday. A lock had been cropped to gain entry to the site and the thieves then smashed a section of the wall to gain access to the building. They then used a forklift to load a white VW pick-up truck (RE54 00F) with approx. two tonnes of ingots. The pick-up, which was stolen, was later used in a ramraid in Halstead.
Police would like to hear from anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area or anyone who has any other information. They should ring (01284) 774100 or call crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
Police officers on patrol spotted a break-in had happened at Taylor's Foundry in Hollands Road Haverhill, and discovered a gas pipe had been ruptured.
The fire service was alerted and dealt with the leak. A police spokesman said a very serious incident had been avoided - an explosion could have levelled the factory.
Gerry Taylor, company chairman at Taylor's foundry, said the police had spotted that their gates were open in the early hours of Saturday morning, and had seen a roller-door was open. When they investigated, they could smell gas and heard the sound of it being released into the air. Mr Taylor said he was at the scene himself within five minutes, but was not allowed anywhere near the factory as the fire service sealed off the leak.
"For some reason the thieves decided to ram one of our furnaces, hitting the control panel, breaking the gas pipe and leaving it open to the elements. At 3am the furnace would have come on automatically and if the police had not noticed it, would have ignited the gas. A huge amount of gas would have gone into that building and it would have just blown the roof and walls up completely. We don't know why the alarm system did not go off, but we have now got a new system which is fully activated."
He said that the company would be able to carry on production and the furnace would be back in service soon, but he doubted whether he would ever get back aluminium ingots worth more than £2,000 that were stolen in the raid.
The break-in happened between 5.30pm on Friday and 12.55am on Saturday. A lock had been cropped to gain entry to the site and the thieves then smashed a section of the wall to gain access to the building. They then used a forklift to load a white VW pick-up truck (RE54 00F) with approx. two tonnes of ingots. The pick-up, which was stolen, was later used in a ramraid in Halstead.
Police would like to hear from anyone who saw any suspicious activity in the area or anyone who has any other information. They should ring (01284) 774100 or call crimestoppers on 0800 555 111
Comment on this story
[board listing] [login] [register]
You must be logged in to post messages. (login now)