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| Three held after scrap yard fire | |
| (about 8 hours later) | |
| Three people have been arrested over a scrap yard fire in Hampshire which caused a huge plume of black smoke and numerous explosions. | |
| About 200 cars caught fire at the Forton Industrial Estate in Gosport at about 1330 GMT on Sunday. | |
| Witnesses reported seeing the smoke and hearing explosions "from miles around". About 100 people were told to leave their homes but nobody was hurt. | Witnesses reported seeing the smoke and hearing explosions "from miles around". About 100 people were told to leave their homes but nobody was hurt. |
| Hampshire police said three people have been arrested on suspicion of arson. | |
| The flames were under control by late afternoon and residents were able to return to their homes. | The flames were under control by late afternoon and residents were able to return to their homes. |
| Smoke was seen "hundreds of feet in the air". Photo by Faye Jones | |
| Paul Coates, station manager for Fareham fire station, said: "We had 200 cars on fire... the explosions that people could hear were actually tyres. There were lots of explosions going off. | Paul Coates, station manager for Fareham fire station, said: "We had 200 cars on fire... the explosions that people could hear were actually tyres. There were lots of explosions going off. |
| "The smoke plume was causing us problems. We had to keep relocating the fire appliances, jumping the fences and going into people's gardens. | "The smoke plume was causing us problems. We had to keep relocating the fire appliances, jumping the fences and going into people's gardens. |
| "There were a lot of shipping containers there surrounding the site, which were on fire as well and too high [to tackle]. These started to collapse so we had to shut some of the public footpaths. | "There were a lot of shipping containers there surrounding the site, which were on fire as well and too high [to tackle]. These started to collapse so we had to shut some of the public footpaths. |
| "We had to put safety officers in to stop them from collapsing on our crews." | "We had to put safety officers in to stop them from collapsing on our crews." |
| About 40 firefighters attended the scene and police evacuated homes in Lear Road and Kings Road. | About 40 firefighters attended the scene and police evacuated homes in Lear Road and Kings Road. |
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| The huge plumes of black smoke can be seen from miles away | The huge plumes of black smoke can be seen from miles away |