Rows as crews tackle blazing slick

OIL BLAZE . . . the darkened floor at the Industrial Park, West Street.

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FIRE crews spent several hours tackling a blazing oil slick after a storage cylinder caught fire at an industrial unit in Westwood.

The tank, containing 1,000 litres of waste engine oil, ruptured in the fire and the burning contents spilled out across a car park and along the side of the unit in West Street, at 11.30pm, on Friday.

It took three pumps from Hollins, Oldham and Blackley four hours to control the fire and clean up with oil leaking into drains and contaminating the surrounding area, said green watch commander Andrew Turner, from Hollins Fire Station.

It's believed youths started the fire in a nearby car, skip and storage container before it spread to the oil tank.

"It created a running fuel fire as the ignited oil ran down the car park and the side of the building but we managed to contain it and stop the spread before it caused further damage to the workshop which is currently disused. The owner is understood to have moved out of the premises a few days ago but they are involved in a cleaning up operation and the local authority, Environment Agency and United Utilities have been informed.

"Unfortunately we also had a few local residents intervening who decided to start arguments with the crews while they were dealing with the situation which doesn't help."