A FIRE broke out at Mayside’s recycling depot yesterday. Sparks from a 20-year-old Lindemann baler, which bundles paper for shipping to the UK, are believed to have started the fire at the site in Leale’s Yard, off the Bridge.

Managing director Tommy Duquemin said the blaze had damaged the machine, which is now being run manually, but that his staff had saved the day.

‘Depot manager Liam Bourgaize was looking through the top of the baler when he saw sparks,’ said Mr Duquemin, 66.

‘He pressed the stop button and shut down the machine immediately.’

He said that quick response had prevented any further damage to the machine and depot.

‘There was a lot of smoke,’ said Mr Duquemin. ‘You could hardly see inside the factory. I’ve never experienced this sort of thing before and it’s quite scary, really.

‘The Fire and Rescue Service was fantastic and stayed to make sure we were out of the woods.’

Mr Duquemin said the first he knew of the problem was when one of his staff shot out of the factory and told him to call the fire service.

‘I wasn’t aware of what the situation was until I saw smoke coming out of the door.

‘The boys really did save the depot from suffering any more damage and I thank them for that.’

He said he was relieved the machine, which is normally in action from 7am until 4pm on weekdays and on weekend mornings, was working manually.

‘We are limping along and the engineers will be over tomorrow ‘Friday’ and hopefully we will be back to normal on Monday,’ he said.

Two fire appliances and the duty officer arrived at the scene at 9.29am.

The fire was out by 9.52 and the area was damped down.

Mayside exports up to 8,000 tonnes of polythene, paper and cardboard each year.

The recycling depot is contracted by Public Services for the collection, baling and transport to the UK of plastic bottles, paper and cardboard.

Mr Duquemin asked islanders to be aware that bundling operations would slow down over the weekend as a result of the fire.

‘I would just ask people to be a little bit understanding over the weekend when it comes to recycling because we are limited as to how much stockpiling we can do,’ he said.

Owner Brian Perry, speaking from the UK, praised the immediate response of his staff, who have been trained to deal with such situations.

‘We take health and safety very seriously and appreciate what the fire service has done – it’s all been handled very professionally,’ said Mr Perry.

Police officer Mark Nichols, who attended the scene, said there were no suspicious circumstances.