Fire crews spent almost six hours battling a major industrial fire at the Clifton headquarters of A. W. Jenkinson Forest, on Wednesday afternoon.
Black smoke was seen across the valley with trains on the Westcoast mainline that runs next to the site impacted with services halted for a short time before resuming moving part the site at slow speeds.
The fire broke out on machinery in a processing building at the timber yard but was contained to the building without spreading to the rest of the site.
Multiple fire crews from across Cumbria were called in to battle the fire including a 32-metre Turntable Ladder.
Fire engines had to use fire hydrants almost a mile from the fire in the village of Clifton and outside Abbott Lodge Jersey Ice cream Parlour to keep crews supplied with water to battle the fire.
A spokesperson said: “Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service was called at 3.17pm yesterday (28 May) to a large fire involving machinery at a commercial property on the A6 towards Clifton.
“Five fire engines and special appliances attended and crews used three breathing apparatus, a main jet, a thermal imaging camera, and an aerial ladder platform to bring the incident under control”
Both appliances from Penrith were initially mobilised to the fire. Upon arrival, the officer in charge (OIC) assessed the incident and requested additional resources to assist. At the peak of the incident, there were two appliances from Penrith, one from Shap, one from Lazonby, one from Appleby, and one from Carlisle, along with specialist appliances from Appleby, Carlisle, and Workington.