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Hoyles Court, Park Street, MANCHESTER, M26 2GZ

Looking towards Radcliffe town centre.

Shortly before 10pm on Thursday, 23rd August 2012, a large fire broke out in the former General Engineering factory and adjoining warehouse on Bury Road. More than 60 firefighters attended the incident and spent the night tackling the blaze, along with ten fire engines, two aerial appliances and a number of specialist vehicles. Efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered when a large gas pipe ruptured which led to a small explosion creating a gas flare and causing the collapse of part of the industrial complex. The heat from the fire at a site on Bury Road was so intense it cracked the windows of the flats opposite, forcing the emergency services to evacuate local residents from About 100 homes in the Bury Road and Schofield Street areas to Radcliffe Civic Suite in Thomas Street. Firefighters eventually managed to gain control of the blaze after the gas supply to the fractured pipe was isolated in the early hours of the morning and were then able to begin damping down the site. It is believed the building was empty but an investigation is underway. This is the scene at around 11pm from the edge of the police cordon on Park Street, immediately behind the factory. For more images, see http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=35454929 Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/homes-evacuated-amid-factory-blaze-in-radcliffe-8078444.html (The Independent) http://www.metro.co.uk/news/909670-radcliffe-factory-fire-causes-100-homes-to-be-evacuated#ixzz24Ul8gRvN (Metro News) http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2012-08-24/radcliffe-factory-fire-explosion/ (ITV News) http://www.towerfm.co.uk/news/local/investigation-after-massive-factory-fire-in-radcliffe/ (Tower FM) http://www.burytimes.co.uk/news/9891409.Huge_factory_fire_in_Radcliffe/?action=complain&cid=10686350 (Bury Times) http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1587091_major-evacuation-after-gas-explosion-in-radcliffe---video-and-pictures (Manchester Evening News)

Compare with Image], taken in 2010. Both shops have changed hands since then (although the second is still a fast food outlet) and the "Staff of Life Inn" between the two shops has since been converted into apartments.

The site of the former General Engineering factory on Bury Road, which has now been demolished following the fire which destroyed the adjoining warehouse last August. Behind the fence, the nearby factory (Ferrari Electroplating) appears to have had a facelift. The fire broke out shortly before 10pm on Thursday, 23rd August, 2012 in the former General Engineering factory and adjoining warehouse on Bury Road. More than 60 firefighters attended the incident and spent the night tackling the blaze, along with ten fire engines, two aerial appliances and a number of specialist vehicles. Efforts to extinguish the blaze were hampered when a large gas pipe ruptured which led to a small explosion creating a gas flare and causing the collapse of part of the industrial complex. The heat from the fire at a site on Bury Road was so intense it cracked the windows of the flats opposite, forcing the emergency services to evacuate local residents from About 100 homes in the Bury Road and Schofield Street areas to Radcliffe Civic Suite in Thomas Street. Firefighters eventually managed to gain control of the blaze after the gas supply to the fractured pipe was isolated in the early hours of the morning and were then able to begin damping down the site. Bury Road remained closed until Saturday afternoon. It is believed the building was empty at the time of the fire. For images of the fire, see http://www.geograph.org.uk/search.php?i=35454929 Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/homes-evacuated-amid-factory-blaze-in-radcliffe-8078444.html (The Independent) http://www.metro.co.uk/news/909670-radcliffe-factory-fire-causes-100-homes-to-be-evacuated#ixzz24Ul8gRvN (Metro News) http://www.itv.com/news/granada/update/2012-08-24/radcliffe-factory-fire-explosion/ (ITV News) http://www.towerfm.co.uk/news/local/investigation-after-massive-factory-fire-in-radcliffe/ (Tower FM) http://www.burytimes.co.uk/news/9891409.Huge_factory_fire_in_Radcliffe/?action=complain&cid=10686350 (Bury Times) http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1587091_major-evacuation-after-gas-explosion-in-radcliffe---video-and-pictures (Manchester Evening News)