PROMPT action by Huddersfield firefighters averted a potentially dangerous blaze in Huddersfield town centre early this afternoon.
Lunchtime shoppers were alarmed to see black smoke billowing across the town centre just after 1pm.
The scene of the fire was the old YMCA building on St Peters Street, where a nine-foot high skip inside was on fire on the ground floor.
Fire crews arrived to see thick smoke billowing from every window of the high rise and inside six-foot flames licking the ceiling inside the building.
Crowds of spectators, many of whom had been enjoying the sunshine in St Peters Gardens, gathered on the pavements outside, drawn by the smoke and sound of the fire engines. Others came from a nearby accountancy firm, the Vulcan pub and the Post Office sorting office in Northumberland Street.
The YMCA building is currently being demolished and all interior doors had been removed, which would have allowed the fire to rapidly spread through the building.
The blaze was started by a workman who had been using an angle grinder, causing sparks to ignite carpets inside the industrial skip. Workmen's efforts to douse the fire were in vain; it soon became too fierce for them to tackle and they alerted the fire brigade.
Huddersfield Watch Commander Andy Blackburn said: "It looked like a towering inferno when we arrived, with smoke coming out of every window.
"The building is the same height as a high rise and all the internal doors had been removed, which meant that the fire would have spread very rapidly.
"We had to use a ladder to get up high enough to use a hose, as the skip was very large. Two officers wearing breathing apparatus used a hose reel jet to extinguish the fire.
"The workmen had had a go, but the fire was way beyond their capabilities, there was a lot of thick, acrid smoke; it actually looked a lot worse than it was.
"We dealt with it very promptly, otherwise we could have had a very awkward incident to deal with in a high rise in Huddersfield town centre."
Eyewitness Dan Lindley, who lives in St Peters Street opposite the building, saw thick black smoke from Wilkinson's at the other side of the town centre and dashed home.
He said: "There was a lot of really thick, acrid black smoke. when I got there, smoke was coming out of all the windows. The road is already sectioned off due to the demolition work and the fire brigade seemed to get everything under control very quickly."
Watch Commander Blackburn added afterwards; "If anyone really want to see us in action, they will be very welcome at our Open Day at Huddersfield Fire Station on June 29, a week on Saturday."
