Fire crews have drafted in specialist equipment to help them tackle a major blaze above Holmfirth.
They are using high-pressure pumps from Nottinghamshire to fight a woodyard blaze, more than 48 hours after a pile of wood chippings caught fire, and are pumping water almost four miles from Harden reservoir at Hade Edge.
The firefighters have been working around the clock to fight the Crow Edge blaze, which has created a huge pall of acrid smoke that can be smelled across much of South Yorkshire.
They are trying to put out a fire in a smouldering pile of wood chippings at R Plevin and Sons in Whams Road, which caught fire at 8.10am on Monday morning.
The pumps enable 6,000 litres of water per minute to be pumped on to the flames and to reduce the potential for more wood chips to set alight.
Five crews and around 25 firefighters from South Yorkshire and Skelmanthorpe initially attended and four crews are still at the scene, due to the deep-seated nature of the fire, which is burning far below the surface of the huge stacks.
Palls of smoke can still be seen billowing from the premises, which are based at the former Hepworth ironworks off the A616.
The blaze is reminiscent of an earlier fire at the yard at the end of April, which took five days to put out.
A spokesman for the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “It’s going to be a long job. The wood chippings are able to generate heat so can make it tricky to deal with which is why we are using 6,000 litres a minute to tackle it.
“It’s also deep seated, which means that the fire is burning far below the surface.
“Residents in Sheffield and other parts of South Yorkshire can smell it due to the weather conditions that we had last night, which have encouraged it to spread.
“The smell of smoke is harmless but we are asking affected residents to keep their doors and windows closed to keep the smell out of their homes.”
An adjoining firm, Wavin, who make heating, plumbing and drainage products, have been allowing fire crews to use its water reserves normally used for the manufacture of the company’s clay pipe products. This will continue until the fire is finally put out.
“Although it has been confirmed that the smoke is not harmful, we are very much part of the local community and have been as equally affected as nearby residents. It is clearly within everyone’s interest to ensure that the fire is put out as quickly as possible,” said Paul MacLaurin, Wavin’s manufacturing director.
An R Plevin & Sons spokesperson said, “Efforts to bring a fire under control on one of our wood piles is continuing. The wood pile is isolated and breaks between neighbouring wood piles increased to reduce the risk of the fire spreading. The damping down process is expected to carry on for several days.
"We would like to apologise to residents for the inconvenience caused and thank South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue and the Environment Agency for their combined support. A full investigation into how the fire started will take place once the situation has been resolved”.
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