Big blaze at bark business continues to be tackled

Firefighters have been continuing to tackle a large blaze containing "hundreds of thousands of tonnes" of bark in Norfolk.

Crews have been at TMA Bark, near the former RAF Attlebridge site in Weston Longville, since about 20:15 BST on Wednesday.

Alan Jaye, group manager at the county's fire service, told the BBC on Thursday: "I have no idea how long the incident may last, but as far as I am aware, we are making really good progress extinguishing the fire."

A number of roads in the area have had to be closed due to smoke drifting across carriageways, and residents have reported smelling smoke from as far away as Norwich and Acle.

At its height, crews from nine stations were called to the scene, with additional units deployed to tackle the flames through the night hours.

Mr Jaye said the incident had taken a toll on resources.

"We found... a significant amount of bark well alight. There were two piles of it.

"At the height of the fire, we had nine pumping appliances, one aerial ladder platform, two water carriers and a control unit at the scene.

"We are talking hundreds of thousands of tonnes of bark."

The service said due to the nature of the fire it was expected to burn for some time.

TMA Bark said all directors were dealing with the situation and were unable to comment.

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