FIFTY firefighters worked around the clock when molten glass began leaking from a furnace at a Barnsley company.
Crews were faced with molten glass leaking from a furnace at Ardagh Glass in Monk Bretton when they were alerted on Sunday night.
Up to 280 tons of molten glass was at risk of escaping, firefighters said.
The crews used 12 water jets to stop the leak and to solidify the liquid glass.
"It was like lava from a volcano," said South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue's Steve Green. "The temperature in the furnace was 1,300C."
An Ardagh Glass spokeswoman said: "We would like to thank South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue for their support in bringing this incident quickly and safely under control."
The company, who employs 400 people at its Monk Bretton site, made £65million in pre-tax profits in 2012 and has recently been involved in a pay dispute with its workers.
