The holocaust could yet prove to be an ill wind which could blow some good in the direction of the employees. Within 36 hours of the inferno, after special emergency measures were taken, the Bellings factory was back in full production. A director of the firm said that it might be necessary to ask the employees to work weekends and other extra hours to make good the loss inflicted by the fire. Huge stocks of domestic appliances disintegrated in the white heat which bent and distorted steel girders. Mr C K Coldwell, Works Manager and Director, when asked about reports that the damage might run into millions commented “Damage to the building and loss of stock is inevitably high. Due to the loss of a large amount of documentation in the fire, it is impossible at this stage to say how much is involved. We shall have to start at square one.”
The tragedy for firemen who raced to the scene was that they had to be content to let it burn. Within minutes of their arrival, it was apparent that they could do nothing to save the 100,000 square foot building and its contents, so fierce and intense was the outbreak. A hurried roll call was carried out in the factory yard to determine that none of the nearly 1000 employees were trapped in the building. Two employees were slightly burned, but none seriously hurt.
Appliances from fire brigades in Burnley, Nelson, Padiham, Rawtenstall and Accrington attended the blaze. Ten pumps were in operation, including the three from Burnley plus the new snorkel tender and turntable ladder. In their battle to save other buildings on site, firemen dealt with pockets of fire in the roof of adjoining buildings, sparked off by burning embers blowing from the main fire. As firemen arrived on the scene, shortly after 11am, the area was engulfed in dense smoke. Then came the “flame bomb” as the highly-charged atmosphere in the factory “flashed over”. In a fraction of a second, virtually the whole building was alight. Packing materials, cartons and wooden pallets all added fuel to the situation.
Fire experts are still probing the building to find out what started the blaze. Mr Coldwell said that it was impossible at this stage to assess the damage, but added that the incident had not affected production and there was no reason to believe that any worker would lose their job as a result.