FIREFIGHTERS from St Albans are today (Monday) investigating the cause of a huge fire at a Smallford nursery at the weekend.

Ten fire appliances rushed to Glinwell Nursery, Hatfield Road, yesterday (Sunday November 11) to extinguish the fire, which started at about 12pm.

Crews from as far as Potters Bar had to don breathing apparatus to fight the fire, which took hold of thousands of plastic trays on pallets.

A massive plume of black smoke could be seen stretching across Smallford’s skyline, to Hatfield.

A spokesman for St Albans fire service said that the smoke was dark because of the colour of the plastic trays.

He said they had 10 fire trucks in attendance as there was difficulty in getting enough water to extinguish the blaze.

The spokesman added: “We needed large volumes at very high pressure.”

Crews were at the scene for 10 hours, dampening down the smouldering pallets, and a mover will be used today to shift parts of the remains of the fire, to ensure there are no hot spots.

Fire crews were kept busy over the weekend as a fire which was thought to have been extinguished at a wood recycling depot adjacent to the A414/St Albans Road started again yesterday.

About 10,000 tonnes of vegetation and wood waste caught alight on Saturday night at the depot.

As a result of yesterday’s flare-up, motorists have been warned there is smoke drifting across roads, and road closures are currently in place on the A405/M1 junction 7; A414/Hemel Hempstead Road and between King Harry Lane and the A414/Breakspear Way.

A spokeswoman for Herts county council said that while diversions have been put in place, there is traffic congestion around those areas.