It is a year since the fire at the Haigh Industrial Estate, which broke out on February 3rd 2016.

The blaze tore through two local business premises, Aqua-Heat and The Safety Shack, destroying everything that was within the building.

Both businesses have since moved and recovered from the setback, but Nigel Powell, owner of Aqua-Heat recalls the events of that fateful night, which he said, has left an “indelible mark.”

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I had just arrived home from work on February 3rd 2016 and I was greeted by my wife, who told me that the intruder alarm company was on the telephone. The lady’s voice still rings in my head now. She said: “Your Ross-on-Wye branch is on fire. The fire and rescue team is in attendance.” She then instructed me to attend the premises as soon as possible.

Both my wife and I then drove the 12 or so miles from home, thinking it was a minor fire and hopefully it would be extinguished when we arrived. As we got closer, we could see the glow of the fire and, when we reached the final roundabout, we were stopped by the Police and told that nobody was allowed into Alton road.

We made ourselves known to the Police, who in turn summoned a Fire officer, who escorted us into the industrial estate. What we then witnessed was something that has left an indelible mark in our lives; it was like walking onto a Hollywood film set, numerous fire tenders, a command module, and also a fire monitoring platform.

My thoughts were not only that all the hard work of 15 or so years was being destroyed by this insatiable fire, but lives could also have been taken.

When we finally got to the cordon that the fire department had put in place, we met up with my colleagues Ian, Barry and Ian’s wife Doe.

All three were stood watching the drama unfold, Ian and Barry had ran the branch at Ross and they, as well as Doe, were stood there in shock.

The fire department explained that their plan was to try and contain the fire and stop it spreading. The big concern was a large LPG tank, which was inbetween the units. Luckily, the fire was contained and any further disaster was avoided.

We all stood watching trying to think what could have started the fire. On social media the main theory suggested by some local residents was a wood burner in our showroom, but we knew that was not the case as we had a process in place to make sure the fire used that day was extinguished before the last person left the premises.

At approximately 11pm, we decided there was nothing further we could do and so left the industrial estate, but I don’t think anybody slept that night.

Once the fire department had made the scene safe, we all then visited the site to inspect the devastation that the fire had caused. Virtually everything that could burn had been destroyed and most of the things that were left were only fit for scrap.

In the following days, the site was visited by insurance forensic experts, who concluded that the fire did not start from a wood burner and was started by some form of electrical fault.

Once we had gathered our thoughts, it was obvious the old unit would take a number of months to rebuild and therefore we set about finding alternative premises. After looking at a number of premises we decided on Unit 1, at Great Western Court.

At this point, I would like to show my extreme gratitude to our customers who have supported us through these difficult times, also many suppliers have been very supportive in the construction of the new premises.

Although we managed to obtain a new premises it would be pointless without the driving force of Ian and Doe, who have worked extremely hard to produce a fully functioning plumbers merchant and showroom displaying wood burning and electric fires.

Today, Friday, February 3rd, we are holding an open day with experts on hand from a number of fire suppliers. We shall also be having various special offers on today

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Aqua Heat is a well-established specialist plumbers merchants, based in Ross-on-Wye and Hereford. For more information, visit their website, www.aqua-heat.net, or pop along to meet the team at their open day on Friday, February 3rd.