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| Firefighter dies tackling blaze | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A firefighter has been killed and up to three others are believed to be missing after a suspected arson attack at a warehouse in Warwickshire. | |
| Up to 100 firefighters and five ambulance crews were called to the vegetable warehouse in Atherstone on Stour, near Stratford upon Avon. | |
| The blaze, on Atherstone Industrial Estate, is believed to have started at about 1845 GMT on Friday. | The blaze, on Atherstone Industrial Estate, is believed to have started at about 1845 GMT on Friday. |
| Police said they were treating the blaze as suspicious. | Police said they were treating the blaze as suspicious. |
| Fire crews from Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire and the West Midlands were called to the blaze, which they were still tackling late on Friday night. | |
| The level of smoke has caused problems for all of the emergency services West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman | |
| The Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance has been called into operation, to be ready to fly anyone with serious burns to a specialist unit at Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham. | |
| A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said he understood there were no warehouse workers caught up in the fire, but said he had not had this confirmed. | |
| He said: "This is a very large and complex incident. | |
| "We currently have five ambulances, four doctors, two emergency care practitioners and five officers at the scene. | |
| Water supply diverted | |
| "We are working with colleagues from both the fire and police services. | |
| "The fire is extremely intense with large quantities of smoke. The level of smoke has caused problems for all of the emergency services." | |
| Local resident Ben Shimmin, who lives in a village near the scene of the fire, told BBC News the warehouse was on the site of a disused airfield, with the nearest houses about three-quarters of a mile away, but there were other industrial buildings nearby. | |
| He said he became aware of the fire when he lost his water supply, with water being diverted to use to fight the flames. | |
| He said: "You could clearly see the fire from over the houses. | |
| "It did look like the main fire was based around the centre of the building." |