Spark ignited factory inferno in Frisby Road, Leicester
A spark from an electric saw caused an enormous blaze which destroyed a factory, firefighters have revealed.
Flames engulfed five business units in Frisby Road, near Uppingham Road, Leicester, on Saturday, April 21.
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The scene after the fire at the factory in Frisby Road, Leicester, which has now been demolished
The cause of the blaze, which took more than 24 hours to extinguish, was revealed in a fire investigation report which has just been released.
A fire service spokeswoman said the fire had been officially classed as "accidental".
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She said: "There was a room adjacent to where there was some manufacturing going on and that room was being refurbished.
"It was the cutting equipment that workmen were using that ignited dust particles in the air.
"It was a spark from the cutting equipment that ignited the particles."
Mulu Odedra, who ran clothing manufacturer Ram Ram Ltd, on the ground floor, lost hundreds of thousands of pounds of machinery, stock and orders, including one worth nearly £100,000 from high street chain River Island.
Mr Odedra, 59, said: "I remember the unit was having some work done, they were doing building work when the fire started. The builders asked me at the time if I wanted work done, but I said no.
"It feels better to know the cause now because I have been waiting for a while to find out, but things are still very hard for me. When I see a fire engine or hear about a fire it brings it all back to me.
"When I found out the cause it brought it all back, too."
Mr Odedra, who also lost his car, which was parked outside the units when the fire started, has relocated his business to a unit in Upper Charnwood Street, Spinney Hills, Leicester.
He said: "It gets better day by day, but things are still very hard. It was a big loss for me."
The charred remains of the business units were torn down in the days following the blaze.
It is understood businesses are awaiting insurance payments to relocate, or have already moved to other premises in the city.
A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said officers attended the incident but no arrests were made.
No further action will be taken by the police following the fire service's report.
Comments
by karinfall1955
Friday, September 07 2012, 9:27PM
“@DBLeicester. I too used to be very cynical about house and factory fires until I suffered my own entirely accidental fire. I think the fire service and the police are pretty savvy about fires and if there is any doubt sniffer dogs are taken to sniff out 'accelerants'. Of course some of these fires are caused by sad sick little arsonsists.”
by LikeItaLot
Friday, September 07 2012, 6:46PM
“What brain dead red arrowed a simple question”
by LikeItaLot
Friday, September 07 2012, 5:27PM
“How many exactly. I have not kept count”
by DBLeicester
Friday, September 07 2012, 2:22PM
“Not to point out the obvious, but there seems to be a lot of these factories burning down over the last couple of years...all accidental of course..!”