AN INDUSTRIAL oven in a Saffron Walden business unit burst into flames in the early hours of Saturday morning. Firefighters were called to the two-story unit on Shire Hill just after 2am when an automatic fire alarm was triggered. Station Officer at Saf

AN INDUSTRIAL oven in a Saffron Walden business unit burst into flames in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Firefighters were called to the two-story unit on Shire Hill just after 2am when an automatic fire alarm was triggered.

Station Officer at Saffron Walden, Paul Curtis, said: "When we arrived the ground floor of the building was heavily smoke logged. Four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went inside to locate the actual fire.

"They discovered that the fire was contained in an industrial oven used to cure silicone. The oven had malfunctioned and was burning the rubber inside it.

"The firefighters quickly extinguished the fire and then we used positive pressure ventilation fans to clear smoke from the building. Luckily the damage was completely contained within the oven."

A positive pressure ventilation fan is a large fan unit which is used to create a flow of air through a building to quickly clear smoke once a fire is extinguished.

Crews remained at the site for just over two hours ensuring that all the smoke had cleared.