Essex power station engulfed in blaze

A huge blaze has broken out at a power station in Essex, in areas containing about 4,000 tonnes of wood pellets. The "severe" blaze at Tilbury Power Station in the Thames estuary began just before 08:00 GMT and quickly engulfed the building in smoke. RWE npower, which owns the plant, said: "A fire broke out at 07:45 GMT in a fuel storage area at the station. All our employees have been accounted for." About 100 firefighters are tackling the blaze in the pellet fuel handling area. But extra crews have been called in from London and further afield for a separate unrelated fire in a wood pile on a nearby dockside. Witness Robert Richards told BBC Radio Essex: "The whole of that north block just went completely up in flames. Foam attack unit "It was on two sides that I could see. My daughter could see it from the other side of the river." Tilbury Power Station was built to burn coal and was recently granted consent to burn biomass fuel and wood materials. Biomass plants burn wood pellets, generally made from compacted sawdust or other wastes. Essex chief fire officer David Johnson said it was too early to say what caused the blaze. "The fire is in the main part of the power station where there are numerous storage cells which hold the bio-fuel, which is basically compressed and crushed wood fibre. "Two of those at least are on fire, which is about 4,000 tonnes of fuel. "The difficulty we have at the moment is access, because it's very high up in the structure and there is the probability of some structural deformity and damage." There are 15 fire engines, three aerial ladder platforms, a mass foam attack unit and support from London crews at the scene. No dangerous chemicals "Thankfully nobody has been hurt. We initially believed there were personnel from the power station missing but all have been accounted for, so everyone is safe," Mr Johnson said. "It's not safe enough to commit crews to the actual area of the fire and there are serious quantities of smoke being given off at the moment. "So our tactical plan will be to get as close as we can, work with the power station personnel who have been very good and once we're able to contain it we shall do. "We would hope that the fire can be brought under control hopefully within a matter of hours. "The smoke that's being given off is very similar to what you get from a bonfire, there are no dangerous chemicals involved, no pipes or liquids involved. "We've had to isolate some high voltage power cables that were very close to the incident and we're trying to establish the best way to apply fire fighting foam. "It shouldn't cause too much problem to people nearby."