Fire crews praised for preventing fire from spreading

Fire crews from Newtown, Montgomery and Welshpool prevented a much bigger and costly fire at a plant hire business, it has emerged.

Crews spent three-and-a-half hours at Williams Plant Hire at Aberbechan, near Newtown on Thursday night after a road sweeper caught fire.

The fire also damaged a hedge cutter and could have spread to other expensive plant hire equipment causing tens of thousands of pounds of damage.

The crews were called out at 8pm on Thursday and worked late into the evening. "When they realised the fire was deeper rooted the called in Montgomery and Welshpool to assist," said a Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue spokesperson.

Two crews from Newtown, another from Montgomery and one from Welshpool dealt with the blaze.

They were backed up by the Newtown-based Rapid Relief Team who provided refreshments for the crews. The RRT, a voluntary team from the local Plymouth Brethren, attend emergencies such as these to provide support and back up to crews and emergency services when there is a likelihood of a long incident.

The volunteers were own scene within 30 minutes. "We were on site at 8.30pm providing the crews with cold drinks and snacks," said Matthew Lynes, Local Team Leader of RRT.

The actual blaze could have spread to plant hire vehicles stored at the site, with the incident becoming much larger and more serious.

It is understood the fire started in a road sweeper and spread from there.

Photos: Crews and the RRT at the Williams Plant Hire fire (courtesy of Newtown Rapid Relief Team volunteers)