Conflagration

Coming home from Earlsdon on Wednesday evening, I was amazed to see a huge plume of smoke billowing up over south-east Coventry. This was what it looked like from Anarchy Bridge, by the station.

Photo courtesy of Clare Weir

I got on the No 16 bus in Pool Meadow, heading for Ernesford Grange. In the Aldermoor, people were coming out of their houses to see what was happening, and there was a real sense of alarm among the bus passengers. As we turned onto Allard Way the smoke rose sky- high in a thick swirling column. I could see that the fire must be beyond the railway line in the direction of Baginton.

When I got home, I could smell acrid burning on our street, and a haze hung in the air which gave the evening a premature autumnal feel. I rushed to tune into Radio Coventry and Warwickshire and discovered that the blaze was at a woodworking firm on Siskin Drive.

White smoke was still rising into the sky the next day, and firefighters were struggling to control the flames which were devouring the underside of the collapsed factory.

As I write this, it's Friday evening and the air still carries the taint of burning. There is something really shocking about a blaze of that magnitude, and we can be very thankful that no lives were lost.