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Children and workers evacuated after blaze
Children were among scores of people who were evacuated when a fire broke out at a factory, sparking a toxic fumes alert.
Youngsters, parents and staff were told to leave Cheeky Monkees indoor play centre after a fire broke out at nearby Powdertech in Whittle Road, off Phoenix Parkway, Corby.
Workers from more than 20 businesses were also evacuated when the emergency services created an exclusion zone around the area and police set up road blocks in Cockerell Road and Courier Road.
The alert started at about 12.30pm yesterday when sparks from a grinding machine being used by sub-contractors ignited material in a building containing a number of chemicals to the rear of the main Powdertech factory, which coats metal for the building industry.
Company director Richard Besant said about 25 Powdertech employees were evacuated but that no-one was hurt and there was no damage to property.
He said: "There was black acrid smoke and we were told to evacuate the premises.
"Businesses down wind of us were also evacuated.
"There is no evidence that the material which caught fire gave off toxic fumes but all precautions had to be taken.
"We lost about three hours production."
Jason Rees, of Corby, who works for Powdertech, said he turned up to start work at 2pm and was told by police he was not allowed through the police road block.
He said: "All I was told was that there was a fire at the factory and that no-one was allowed beyond the police cordon."
Laura Mitchell, office manager at nearby printing and marketing firm CMS, said: "We could smell the fumes and it was very unpleasant. We weren't given any indication of when we would be able to go back to work."
Carol Devlin, production shift manager, at snack firm Intersnack, said more than 20 employees were evacuated from the premises.
She said: "We could smell smoke and at first we were told to close the
windows. At about 1pm we were told to evacuate the building. We turned off all the equipment and left.
"The priority was to ensure everyone was safe."
Brian McKirdy, who works at Intersnack, turned up for his shift at 2pm and was told the factory had been evacuated.
His bosses provided drinks and snacks for workers until they were allowed back in, although some staff were allowed back to collect personal items if their shift was due to finish.
Fire crews from Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough, Thrapston, Oundle and Daventry attended the incident.
A fire service spokesman said: "Fumes from the chemicals involved in the fire would normally be an irritant but they were in such small quantities they did not cause much of a problem."
A police spokesman said: "We closed a couple of roads at the request of the fire brigade.
"Officers were not asked to wear masks and there was no concern this could impact on people outside or near the factory."
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Weather for Kettering
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 25 C
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