DOCK FIRE

By Humphrey Carter A fire in a carpenter's workshop at Palma docks yesterday sparked a major emergency operation and, initially, caused serious concern. The alarm was raised just before 3pm and it is thought that the blaze, which started underneath one of the wood cutting machines, was started by a stray spark from the cutting tools which fell into a container used to catch the sawdust. However, the warehouse had been closed since Friday evening and it is thought that the fire has been slowly burning since the early hours of Saturday morning The workshop remained closed yesterday for the bank holiday and fire fighters had to smash down one of the main doors to reach the blaze. Because of the initial concern, two fire brigades were deployed ay the scene along with Local and National Police support. The first fire fighters into the building were engulfed by smoke which filled the entire warehouse, however it did not prevent firemen locating the fire quickly and rapidly extinguishing the blaze. According to fire chiefs, the extent of the damage caused by the fire was limited, with only the wood cutting machine and sawdust well suffering serious damage. The financial cost of the damage however remains to be seen. Fire inspectors checked over the building once the fire was extinguished while fire fighters removed all of the damaged material.