Major incident declared as fire burns Northamptonshire industrial estate

The Guardian

23-05-2025

A major incident has been declared as firefighters tackle a huge fire at an industrial estate in Northamptonshire.
A plume of smoke was billowing over the Sanders Lodge site in the town of Rushden on Friday. Emergency services told local residents to close their doors and windows as they battled to stop the flames spreading.
Firefighters said they expected to be on the scene throughout the bank holiday weekend. They have fully evacuated the building that is on fire, as well as those surrounding it, and everyone expected to be there has been safely accounted for, they said.
Mick Berry, area manager for Northamptonshire fire and rescue service, said: 'This is a large fire that is having a significant impact on the Sanders Lodge industrial estate in Rushden. A multi-agency decision has been taken to declare a major incident, but fire crews are working extremely hard to prevent the fire from spreading and reduce the smoke plume.
'We would urge people to stay away from the site while emergency services deal with this incident and ask nearby residents to close windows and doors due to the large amount of smoke issuing from the site.
He said he appreciated the 'impact this is having on local businesses on the estate and would like to thank them for their patience'.
The fire started shortly before 6.30am on Friday, and crews have been working since then to prevent it spreading, Northamptonshire fire and rescue said. Crews found a fire involving a large quantity of plastic. The fire service said: 'We currently have 12 fire engines on scene, as well as three aerial appliances, two water bowsers and a high-volume pump.'
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The fire service said it was getting support from neighbouring Bedfordshire fire and rescue. It said gas to the site had been isolated and, while nearby residents had not yet been affected, they were working with North Northamptonshire council and the gas firm Cadent to mitigate any impact on roughly 500 nearby properties.