Published Tuesday, 04 September 2012
Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (© Pacemaker)
The fire, at Molloy's Scrap Metals on the Monaghan Road, is currently being treated as "accidental ignition" by investigators.
Ten engines - including specialist high volume pumping units - were also required to fight the blaze which began at around 6.25pm on Monday.
The Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze was posing a risk to nearby homes when they arrived.
A statement said: "We received the initial call to attend the incident yesterday evening at 6.25pm. Firefighters encountered a major fire at a large a commercial premises, involving 100 x 30 meters of scrap material, which was threatening nearby residential and commercial premises.
"At the height of the incident, 10 appliances and a number of specialist appliances including two water tankers attended the incident. We had to supplement the water supply with two high volume pumping units as the existing water supplies in the area were insufficient to bring the blaze under control.
"Eighty firefighters worked in difficult and arduous conditions throughout the night to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby residential and commercial premises. Due to the scale of the operation Interim Chief Fire Officer Chris Kerr took command of the incident."