Staff watched on in shock as fire engines screeched into an industrial unit which had plumes of smoke billowing out of it.

Three fire crews rushed to the commercial site in Burton Road estate yesterday.

But bosses at the business, JPM Powder Coating, have already dusted themselves off and are cracking on as usual less than 24 hours on.

%image(15608926, type="article-full", alt="The fire broke out around 2pm on April 25 at JPM Powder Coating in Burton Road.")

Jason Medlar, who owns the firm, explained: "When we powder coat a larger item or something heavy we'll wheel it on a pallet into our oven to stove it - setting it to the bodywork.

"Unfortunately, this time, the pallet we used was weaker than normal and it caught on fire.

"The pallets are normally made of a good, strong material.

""It wasn't a big fire - thankfully everyone was fine and we were back up and running soon after."

A Norfolk county council spokesman said: "At 1.44pm crews from Sprowston, Earlham and Carrow used breathing apparatus and hose reel jets to extinguish a fire in a commercial building in Burton Road.

"The stop was called in at 2.20pm on April 25."

%image(15608927, type="article-full", alt="Haddon Vaughan-Williams, who works at Redco, said: "We went outside and noticed a large smoke cloud coming from next door."")

Haddon Vaughan-Williams, who works at nearby Redco, was alerted to the fire by colleagues.

He said: "Our engineers first noticed a burning smell and at first we didn't know where it was coming from.

"However, when we went outside, we noticed a large smoke cloud coming from next door and three fire engines in the yard.

"When we got back into our office there was this smell of burning chemicals but the fire department said there was no need for concern about the fumes."

%image(15608924, type="article-full", alt="Three fire engines turned up to tackle a fire which broke out at JPM Powder Coating in Burton Road.")

Paul Claxton, director of Swift Engineering which is also located in Burton Road, said: "Our shop is one along from where the fire broke out.

"There was a lot of smoke but not a lot of fire thankfully.

"I think the fire department were worried about potential chemicals leaking out - which may have been why three fire engines turned up.

"The fire was quite small but still not something you see every day."