Fire breaks out at Ironbridge Power Station

Staff were evacuated and eight fire engines responded after thick smoke started billowing from the building.

Flames could be seen within a building used to hold turbines, but firefighters were initially prevented from entering because of safety concerns.

Shropshire Fire Service declared the fire a maximum level two major incident.

Crews were forced to wait for two hours before the building was declared safe to enter.

They wore breathing apparatus and spent several hours fighting the blaze.

Firefighters were this afternoon remaining at the scene damping down. They were expected to remain there into tonight.

An investigation has been launched by station owner E.on into the cause of the fire.

The blaze started at 6am. It was not clear if the station was producing any power today, although E.on said supplies to homes and businesses in the area would not be affected.

Employees turning up for work this morning were directed to another part of the site.

A man who has worked at the power station for 31 years who did not want to be named said he saw smoke billowing out of the turbine hall.

He said: "The last time this happened, around 15 years ago, it took the roof off. A power station is not a good place to have a fire. There is lots of spinning machinery, oil, gas and hydrogen.

"They will have a good fire plan in place. At that time of day there would have been between eight and 10 people working but in the day it's more like 100."

Buildwas Road was closed, with drivers diverted along the Wharfage.

Firefighters from Wellington, Telford, Shrewsbury, Tweedale, Much Wenlock and Prees were all sent to the station in Buildwas Road.

They were joined by a high volume pumping unit from Prees, a foam unit, command support unit and support pump from Tweedale and four operational officers.

Ironbridge Power Station

John Redmond, chief fire officer, said: "We dispatched six fire engines and an environmental pod. Environment Agency officers were present in case water from our pumps ran into the River Severn.

"The fire has been contained in one of the turbines inside the main generator hall. Our staff are working very closely with on site engineers."Fire fighting was initially delayed while site managers turned off the power to the turbines. We could not apply water until that had happened. That meant the fire developed a bit further than we would have liked. But it has been contained and hopefully damage will be limited."

An E.on spokeswoman said: "The fire service is on site and the issue has been brought under control. No-one was injured during the incident and we will be conducting a full investigation."

The site is currently the only major generator of electricity in Shropshire.

The plant consumes about 1.2 million tonnes of coal and 20,000 tonnes of oil each year.

Power stations have occupied a site on the banks of the River Severn at Buildwas since 1932, but the present power station is sue to close in 2015. Under European Union directives, ageing plants like Ironbridge have been legally limited in the emissions they can produce. Ironbridge's operating hours were restricted in 2008 and its forthcoming closure was later announced.

The area was chosen for the station due to its close proximity to the River Severn and several railway lines which provided excellent access to both cooling water and a source for the delivery of coal.

Work began on Ironbridge B Power Station in 1963 however, it did not begin feeding power into the National Grid until the June 1969.

The cooling towers were deliberately constructed using concrete to which a red pigment had been added, to blend with the colour of the local soil.

The station's single 673 ft high chimney is the fifth tallest in the UK.