Firemen praised for saving company

20/07/2011 @ 07:07

A fire on the premises of Welshpool firm Boys and Boden caused drama this afternoon as fire fighters from four stations were scrambled to bring it under control.

And the fire service was praised by the managing director of the company who said that without their swift response the company could have been out of business.

"The fire service response was superb and without their quick response we could have been out of business," said Dean Hammond. "Everyone has been sent home but we will all be back at work tomorrow."

The Pear Stairs Building, a subsidiary of Boys and Boden, was damaged following the afternoon blaze. No-one was reported hurt.

Clive McNamee, manager of the Pear Stairs department, said a serious situation had been avoided. "Once we saw the flames we alerted the fire service and they were with us within minutes and dealt with the situation," he said. "Everyone will be back at work tomorrow and there will be a big clean up operation following the mess caused by the water."

Two appliances from Welshpool were joined by appliances from Montgomery, Newtown and Llanfyllin after the alarm was raised at 3.15pm when a fire was discovered in the roof space of the building.

Fire fighters were at the scene for 90 minutes before bringing it under control and avoided its spread to buildings close by.

Boys and Boden is a privately owned builders merchant which has traded since 1895, and its subsidiary, Pear Stairs, is the second biggest direct to end user supplier and manufacturer of stairs, staircases and stair parts in the UK.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.