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Firefighters Matt Lloyd, Richard Moores and Brian Battle who tackled the cannabis factory fire.
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Firefighters feared cannabis house was a bomb factory
by Pete Bainbridge23/ 4/2008
BRAVE firefighters who battled Macclesfield’s cannabis house blaze feared they could be dealing with a bomb factory, their watch manager has revealed.
Crew manager Matt Lloyd, 37, of Greenwatch, was in charge of the first group to arrive at the Bridge Street house, where a weed jungle worth £2m was discovered earlier this month.
And yesterday he spoke exclusively to the Express of the perils they faced in the darkness. Matt said: "There was a lot of smoke coming out of the basement, where the electricity had been bypassed. The lads went in wearing special breathing apparatus down into the basement. The fire had spread up the wall and into the foyer area, and up around the entrance to the house. While the lads were down there, there was an explosion in the basement, where the electricity had been rerouted.
"Once we looked around the house, we saw the chemicals like acetone and fertiliser, and thought we may be dealing with a bomb factory, so I called everyone out. To be fair, it’s part of our job and we are trained well to deal with the situation."
The Macclesfield crew was joined by those from Congleton, Warrington and Wilmslow and eventually the fire was brought under control and the marijuana was discovered.
PC Andy Cole, 39, of the Macclesfield Investigation Team, was the first officer to enter the Bridge Street cannabis factory, on the Sunday morning (April 6) after the fire had been tamed. There, officers found what is probably the largest haul of its kind ever discovered in the UK.
PC Cole said: "There was a strong, pungent smell of cannabis when I walked in; it was an unmistakable smell. The windows were all taped up, and as I went from room to room we saw more and more. We had an idea that this was quite a big set-up, but no idea it would be like that. I haven’t seen anything like it before."
Detectives are now following leads and crunching forensic data – which includes 42 different fingerprints – to track down the masterminds who ran the cannabis factory. While police do not yet know the nationality of the drug gang, they are working closely with the Immigration Service to close the net around those responsible.
No arrests have yet been made.
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23/04/2008 at 14:28