‘It was like thunder coming through the ground’

Graeme Hetherington was in Newton Aycliffe.

THE noise as nearly 300-tonnes of aerosols exploded simultaneously could be heard for miles around. The blast was powerful enough to lift the entire roof off warehouse nine at the Sillers distribution centre and a split second later smoke and flames soared 200ft into the sky.

All over Newton Aycliffe, people stopped what they were doing and watched open-mouthed as a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.

Around the accident site, bits of red hot aerosol tin rained down – some landing more than a mile away.

Wagon driver Steven Cooper, who was parked next to the pallets at the heart of the fire, could not believe what happened.

The 49-year-old, who works for Tony Ward, said: “I was just getting ready to unload my wagon when someone shouted ‘Fire’ right next to me. The next thing I knew, everyone was being told to evacuate the area as a small fire broke out on one of the pallets. Within minutes there was an almighty explosion.

“It took no time at all for the fire to spread and my truck went up in flames.

“Thankfully, everyone got out of the depot really quickly and I don’t think anyone was seriously hurt.”

Eyewitnesses told of their shock at the scale of the fire and the speed with which it tore through the building.

Louise Sanderson, whose office at DSM overlooks the distribution centre, watched with horror as the building went up in flames.

She said: “I was sitting outside the office when I heard a loud bang and saw flames coming from the depot.

“After a couple of minutes the building was well alight and there was an almighty bang as the roof blew off and the walls started to crumble down.

“I have never seen or heard anything like it – it was really terrifying. We could feel the heat of the fire in our building and the sound was incredible.

“I’m just relieved that nobody was hurt.”

Andrew Briggs, who also works for the manufacturing company, said: “It was like nothing I have ever seen before. When the fire first started it didn’t look that bad, but after a couple of minutes there was a massive explosion.

“It was like an atomic bomb – there was a huge mushroom-shaped cloud of smoke and a constant sound of small explosions as the canisters blew – it was an amazing scene.”

The plumes of smoke attracted dozens of people to the scene, with many capturing images on mobile phones.

Glen Henderson said: “I heard a really loud bang and could see the smoke from the other side of the town, so I decided to come across and see what was happening.

When I got here, I couldn’t believe how high the flames were and just started filming it on my camera to show everyone what it was like.”

The reverberations from the explosion could be felt across the town and there were reports that at one point aerosols were flying through the air as they exploded.

Samantha Johnson, of Newton Aycliffe, said: “The sound of the aerosols exploding sounded like minirockets shooting off in all directions.

“Some of the tins were seen scattered on the roads around the site.”

People living nearby were warned to stay indoors and keep their windows closed, but that didn’t deter people wanting to catch a glimpse of the blaze.

Garry Parker, from Newton Aycliffe, said: “There was a really loud explosion – you could feel the shake, it shook the house. It was like thunder coming through the ground.”

Local Durham County Councillor Mike Dixon reiterated the importance of people keeping away from the scene.

He said: “It is really important that we get information out to the people living in the area.

Residents need to know exactly what happened as soon as possible.

“As a council we need to let people know what to do and whether the smoke is toxic or not.”

Pub fosters nursery children

NURSERY schoolchildren took shelter in a nearby pub yesterday afternoon over fears they could be struck by fallout from the blaze.

Children from Play Day Nursery, in Simpasture Gate, Newton Aycliffe, were moved to the Iron Horse public house at the request of police.

While the two buildings are only about 30 meters apart aerosol cans and burnt plastic were falling behind the nursery on the opposite side of the pub.

Linda Watts, manager of Play Day, said: “As soon the fire broke out, we knew it was going to be big, so we started phoning round the parents and telling them what was happening. We were asked to move to the pub by the police as a precaution and it was good of them to open the function room for us – we are very grateful.

We put a sign on the nursery door saying we had been evacuated, but we’ve managed to speak to all the parents anyway and we are just waiting for the last child to be picked up.”

Mary Macleod, landlady of the Iron Horse, said many of her regulars worked in and around Stiller Distribution, on Aycliffe Business Park.

She said: “We have had a few come in from the factories not just the kids from the nursery, who we’ve given a separate room.

“The police have come in and told us to keep the doors closed.

“We have had one guy come in after waking up to start his night shift and he doesn’t know if he’s got a job to go to."