Firefighters on Wednesday battled a magnesium fire for a second day at a metalworking factory in Machida, western Tokyo.

Held back by the intense heat from the burning magnesium, they couldn't enter Shibata Tekuramu Co.'s Machida plant until Wednesday morning. The blaze was under control at around 4:30 p.m., but completely extinguishing it would take more time, firefighters said. The fire had broken out at around 4:15 p.m. Tuesday.

They were forced to rely on sand and special retardants because magnesium can explode on contact with water.