AS DAWN broke, shattered fire crews got their first glimpse of the charred remains of the devastated market hall.

The embers were still smouldering and smoke rose into the leaden sky hanging gloomily over Ashton.

Steel girders that had held firm for more than 100 years lay twisted and warped like plasticine by the intense heat.

The hall mysteriously burst into flames at 3am on 25 May, 2004 lighting up the night sky above Ashton in seconds.

It burned ferociously, ripping through the roof in just four minutes and tearing right through the Victorian building — devouring everything in its path.

An industrial dispute meant no firefighters from Ashton’s station fought the blaze. They had been suspended the night before after a row with bosses over contracts.

Crews were summoned from as far afield as Whitefield and Glossop. At its height, 90 firefighters and 16 appliances were at the scene — stretching resources to the limit.

Thousands of gallons of water were pumped into the heart of the inferno, eventually bringing it under control by daybreak.

As word spread, people began to trickle into the town centre, blinking in disbelief that so much history — and so many livelihoods — had gone up in smoke.

Andrew Williams, whose father and four brothers worked at the market hall, said at the time: "I am devastated, my family has been in there for 50 years and there’s five livelihoods all tied up in the business."

CONTRACTORS removing more than 2,000 tonnes of debris from the fire-ravaged hall uncovered a child’s watch — and it was still telling perfect time. The girl’s watch was one of the items sold by Frank Tumini on his jewellery stall, Joe ‘n’ Sons, in the old market hall. The teddy bear strap may have been singed, but amazingly the mechanism was still working. Mr Tumini donated the watch to Tameside Council as a keepsake from the fire.

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