July 2006

HOMES had to be evacuated as firefighters battled a blaze which gutted a wooden pallet yard at Horbury Junction. About 60 firefighters were despatched to the Millfield Road yard when thousands of wooden pallets were set alight. At its height, there were 70ft flames driving back crews in scorching hot summer temperatures. Police and fire officers led local residents to safety as the heat of the blaze threatened homes and melted window frames. Many took refuge in the nearby Calder Vale pub. Paul Gillen, of Industrial Street, said: “The intensity of the heat from the roaring blaze made the heat of the day pale into insignificance. “Even as far away as I was it managed to cause damage to the UPVC frames of my windows and cracked the windows of several of my neighbours’ homes.” The fire – which was nearly exactly five years after a blaze at the same pallet yard – could be seen from about 15 miles away at its peak and took two hours to contain. Ossett station manager Roy Dale said: “It was incredibly hot and just getting near to the fire was a major problem.” Crews remained at the scene throughout the night and the next morning.

A KAMIKAZE caged bird had a lucky escape after it dive-bombed into a cat compound. Claude, the albino zebra finch, seemingly faced death after he escaped his cage and landed in the feline sanctuary owned by former Wakefield and district RSPCA chairwoman Jean Cresswell. But foe became friend when Pippa the tabby cat delicately picked him up and took him inside as a present for her owners. Jean’s husband, Allan then trapped the ‘suicidal’ bird in a cat basket and rang environmental campaigner and bird-keeper Paul Dainton.

PLANS for a new school for disruptive pupils were announced. Horbury School would be designed for pupils in danger of being excluded from Horbury, Ossett and Outwood secondary schools. Headteacher at Horbury School, Deborah Duncan, who designed the California Project, said it would educate troubled teens in danger of permanent exclusion. She said the California Project, so called as it would be at the end of California Drive, already had the backing of some community groups, the local education authority and district councillors.