Sheffield power station blaze under control, says fire service

Emergency services attended a Sheffield power station on Thursday night after a fire in a fuel store.

Firefighters were called to Blackburn Meadows power station in Alsing Road, which is run by energy firm E.ON, just before 19:30 GMT.

Eight crews attended, alongside police and the ambulance service. The incident was now under control, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (SYFRS) said.

Some wood fuel had begun to catch light, a spokesperson for E.ON said.

A SYFRS spokesperson said on Friday the incident had been "significantly" scaled back.

There were no reports of injuries and the spokesperson confirmed the incident did not pose a risk to the wider community.

An E.ON spokesperson said: "We can confirm there was an incident at our Blackburn Meadows renewable energy plant yesterday (Thursday) evening following a carbon monoxide alarm in the fuel store building.

"On further investigation the operations team found a smell of smoke and reduced visibility in the roof section of the building.

"In line with our safety procedures, we reported this to the fire service, confirmed all operations teams were safe and the plant was shut down in a controlled manner.

"South Yorkshire Fire Service, police, ambulance, and Sheffield City Council services attended and have remained on site overnight as a precautionary measure."

"Fire crews extinguished a number of 'hot spots' within the fuel store, where isolated sections of the wood fuel had begun to catch light.

"As always, our priority is the safety of on-site colleagues and the surrounding community."

South Yorkshire Police said officers were called to the scene by the fire service to assist with any potential road closures, which in the end were not needed.

The Blackburn Meadows biomass power station is located on the site of the former Tinsley cooling towers.

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