Firefighters
from across North Lincolnshire and even South Yorkshire were called to tackle
the blaze yesterday evening. The alarm was raised by a security guard at the
site after he heard the sound of tyres burning and explosions.Fire crews from Epworth, Crowle, Barton, Scunthorpe and South Yorkshire were called to the Sandtoft Industrial Estate, to fight the fire.
Sub officer John Stevens, of Epworth fire station, was one of the first to arrive at the scene.
He said: "When we first arrived there were flames shooting up about 20ft in the air. There were big, loud bangs from the tyres exploding, so we did not really know what to expect.
"We got here just in time to move some gas cylinders - otherwise it would have been a totally different situation."
SO Stevens said although the cause of the fire was not yet known, he believed the fire was an accidental ignition and the blaze was not being treated as suspicious.
Assistant divisional officer Chris Thomas, of Scunthorpe fire station, also attended the scene. He said: "There was a lot of lorry salvage around, including a crane and a lorry which were not affected by the fire.
"However, around 300 lorry tyres and wheels and other bits of lorry salvage were well alight on arrival. We managed to move a number of cylinders and isolated the fire using water from the main hydrant."
The incident happened just after 7.30pm on 29th December2003.