Fire crews battle huge blaze at mill

FIRE crews were today still damping down following a towering blaze which ravaged a mill in Saddleworth last night.

At the height of the blaze, flames reached 40ft into the sky at the unoccupied former paper mill on Chew Valley Road, Greenfield. A listed building, Greenfield House, which lies on the former Fletcher’s site is believed to have been damaged in the incident.

The fire started in a electrical transformer around 11pm and spread to the mill roof. Crews from Hollins, Chadderton, Oldham and Stalybridge attended the incident.

Stalybridge watch commander Phil Mather said a fire investigation team would be at the site later today. He said: “It was a spectacular looking fire, with flames reaching up to 40ft. There was thick black smoke on the old section of the mill. The owners said a listed part of the mill was on fire.

“We needed a hydraulic platform to reach the fire. The crews have done an excellent job of damping down the fire.”

The sprawling paper mill site, parts of which date back to the 18th century, closed in 2001.



Warburton’s factory workers in Shaw were evacuated safely after a machine ignited on the roof of the bakery. Fire crews from Oldham attended the Glebe Street site to discover a flour-sieving machine in the plant room had caught fire around 8.50pm yesterday.