AN investigation into a huge blaze which swept through an industrial estate in Elton has been launched.

A t the height of the fire, around 40 firefighters tackled it, including the use of two aerial appliances, at Crossfield Excalibur on the Woolfold industrial estate, off Tottington Road, at about 8.30pm last Thursday. (November 13)

Crews worked to stop the fire spreading to neighbouring businesses, and removed cars from a nearby garage to prevent them from being damaged.

Bosses at Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) said a probe into the cause of the fire at the powder coating firm, which also manufactures tools, is underway in conjunction with Greater Manchester Police.

Station Manager Angus Robinson, from GMFRS, said: "Firefighters were met with a large fire and flames could be seen from quite a distance. It was really important to get the fire under control as quickly and as safely as possible.

"Crew worked extremely hard to extinguish the fire and prevent it spreading further to neighbouring businesses.

"We also worked with police to make sure that any vulnerable people who lived in the immediate area were looked after and had a safe place to stay."

Tony Wellock, watch manager at Whitefield Fire Station, added: "Crews tackled the fire from the outside because it was too dangerous to go inside the part of the building where it had broken out.

"The roof was collapsing and there were cylinders in there. Crews did to go inside the other part of the building to remove cylinders.

"The crews did brilliantly to stop the fire from spreading to other businesses."

The fire left hundreds of homes without power to allow fire crews to tackle the blaze, but Electricity North West installed a generator to cater for nearby residents and Elton Primary School.

In addition, the Salvation Army provided a cool box for the mother of a disabled boy who needed his medicine to be refrigerated.

Residents gathered outside the school, with some taking pictures and video footage of firefighters tackling the fire, while residents of Mitchell Street were evacuated from their homes for their safety.

Kathryn Pitchforth, aged 20, was at her aunt's house in Mitchell Street when she saw the fire.

She said: "We were all sat in the living room and suddenly there was just this big glow coming from outside.

"It escalated really quickly — it was like a massive bonfire. We were all evacuated. It was a huge fire, but I'm thankful it wasn't worse."

Cath Thorley, of David Street, opposite the industrial estate, rang the fire brigade at about 9pm when she saw the flames outside.

Ms Thorley, aged 41, said: "I looked out my window and saw this massive fire. I don't think there was an explosion, but it developed really quickly.

"There's a gas bottle centre behind the building that caught fire. At least the school hasn't been damaged and people are safe."

Another onlooker, Tom Mort, aged 18, from Bury, said: "The fire started on the roof of the factory on the far right of the industrial estate.

"It's a big relief this fire didn't spread because there's a big block of houses behind the estate."

A spokesperson for Electricity North West said: “We were asked to attend the scene by GMFRS to isolate power supplies as a safety precaution.

“We removed supplies to 1,047 local customers at 10.37pm to allow firefighters to safely tackle the fire. Our engineers restored the majority of supplies at 11.34pm and the remaining 499 customers were restored at 1.28am by generator.”

The main blaze at Crossfield Excalibur was extinguished by around 2am and crews remained on the scene extinguishing small pockets of fire and damping down until 1.30pm on Sunday.

No-one was available for comment at Crossfield Excalibur.