Firemen were still on standby yesterday because of the threat of the mill's wall collapsing.

Firemen who battled to save the homes of three Burnley families threatened by a mill blaze were praised by their fire chief. As soon as appliances arrived at Queen's Mill, Charlotte Street, firemen with breathing apparatus entered the blazing building to prevent fire spreading into the houses. "They took some hammer in there, but managed to stop the fire threatening the homes. But for their magnificent work, we would have had to evacuate the houses," said assistant chief fire officer Frank Kelly, of the County Fire Brigade. It was Mr Kelly who headed the 50-strong fire fighting team who tackled the blaze which gutted most of the two-storey mill building. A total of nine appliances, and a control unit from Preston, had the blaze under control within an hour.

Police yesterday began an investigation into the cause of the fire, which remains a mystery. Throughout the massive operation, fireman also had to face the danger of the walls collapsing. Within minutes of the outbreak of the fire most of the main supports for the mill walls had been destroyed. Firemen were still on standby at the scene of the fire yesterday. This was the second time within a week that firemen had been called to Queen's Mill. Last Tuesday a small fire broke out at J. W. Carter's Ltd and Burnley Packaging Company Ltd, who occupy the first floor of the building. A total of 22 people are employed in the mill and most were sent home, as some began a mopping-up operation. Mr Carter said: "I can't see how my companies will continue at this stage. It has all come as quite a shock." The manager of another small firm, Rigg Bros Ltd, housed on the bottom floor of the mill, Mr Richard Lutz, said that water damage had probably cost his firm at least £2,000. A precision engineering firm based in Colne, Rigg Bros employ 2 people at Queen's Mill.