West Dorset fire crews battled a major blaze for more than five hours

The incident was reported around 6.19am today after a fire broke out at a unit on an industrial estate in Chard, Somerset involving lithium ion batteries. 

Charmouth and Lyme Regis fire crews raced to the scene alongside support vehicles from across Devon and Somerset. 

Crews remained on the scene until at least 11.06am to dampen down the fire and watch for possible reignition. 

No one is believed to have been injured. The road was closed whilst the blaze was being extinguished.

Lithium batteries are rechargeable batteries in electrical items such as mobile phones, laptops, e-scooters, e-bikes and e-cigarettes. 

These batteries are safe during normal use, but present a fire risk when over-charged, short-circuited, submerged in water or damaged. Lithium-ion batteries are known to be extremely sensitive to high temperatures and inherently flammable. These fires can quickly spread and are hard to put out, causing a lot of damage.

A spokesperson for DW Fire said: "At 6:19am we were mobilised to a commercial property fire in Chard involving lithium iron batteries. Eight pumps, two aerial ladder platforms and multiple support vehicles from across Devon, Somerset and Dorset attended the incident.

"Crews remain on scene dampening down and watching for signs of reignition."