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| Huge factory fire under control | Huge factory fire under control |
| (30 minutes later) | |
| A major fire sparked by an explosion at a chemical plant in Ayrshire has been brought under control. | A major fire sparked by an explosion at a chemical plant in Ayrshire has been brought under control. |
| Flames were spotted at the Nobel Enterprises in Stevenston at about 2000 BST on Saturday. | |
| The blaze started when the highly-flammable substance nitro-cellulose caught fire. | |
| About 40 firefighters are still at the scene. The main blaze has been extinguished but crews are tackling small pockets of fire in the debris. | About 40 firefighters are still at the scene. The main blaze has been extinguished but crews are tackling small pockets of fire in the debris. |
| There is still no indication as to the cause of the explosion. | There is still no indication as to the cause of the explosion. |
| We still have a cordon in place and what we're doing this morning is surveying the site and inspecting the drums that are still there Paul ConnellyStrathclyde Fire and Rescue | |
| A 1km cordon has been put up around 200 nearby houses. There were no reports of injuries. | |
| Paul Connelly, from Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, was in charge of the firefighting operation at the former ICI factory. | |
| At its height there were 20 fire appliances and 75 firefighters tackling the blaze, along with support crews and specialist teams. | |
| These included a mobile laboratory for analysing chemicals. | |
| Speaking from the scene, Mr Connelly told BBC Scotland's Sunday Live programme his crews were faced with a very dramatic situation with flames leaping 200ft in the air. | |
| A cordon has been established around the site of the explosion | |
| He said: "We still have a cordon in place and what we're doing this morning is surveying the site and inspecting the drums that are still there and extinguishing any small pockets of fire that are still remaining in some of the debris. | |
| "It's far too early at this stage to say what caused the fire, this substance was in an open bunded area so there has been very little property damage and anything that we have had we've been able to deal with very early on in the evening." | |
| The service received dozens of calls about the blast, some from as far away as 20 miles. | |
| James Smith, 54, who lives about half-a-mile from the blaze, described how he heard explosions and saw huge flames as the factory went up at about 2030 BST. | |
| He said: "It was enormous. The flames were a couple of hundred feet high. It was like a white flame." | |
| Officers from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency have also visited the site and said no significant air or water pollution problems had been identified and no long-term environmental damage was anticipated. |