text: A Manchester canal was turned into a giant bubble bath after fire crews tackling a nearby chemical plant blaze saw their water mix with a detergent creating a six foot wall of foam. The Ashton Canal was filled with heavy suds which appeared after a fire at an industrial unit occupied by a drug development company. It is believed that the water used by firefighters to dampen down the flames mixed with the detergent being stored in the burning buildings. Scroll down for video . The Ashton Canal in Manchester, which was turned into a giant bubble bath when fire crews tackled a blaze at a nearby chemical plant . It is believed that the water used by firefighters to dampen down the flames mixed with the detergent being stored in the burning buildings . Three-year-old Jason Kernick looks out of the window of his family's canal boat as they try to navigate their way through the foam . This then turned into a huge wall of foam when it drained into the canal, which runs in the shadow of Manchester City's Etihad Stadium. Now the Environment Agency have launched an investigation to assess if the foam has impacted on wildlife after concerns were raised for the safety of fish in the affected waters. A spokesman for the agency said: 'The Environment Agency is investigating after receiving reports of foam on a 30 metre stretch of the Ashton Canal, Manchester. 'Initial investigations by Environment Agency officers show that there appears to have been minimal impact on water quality, but our officers will continue to monitor and respond as necessary. Richard Kernick takes a picture on his mobile phone of his boat trying to negotiate a lock and the foam, which ran into the Ashton Canal . A cyclist takes a picture on his mobile phone as the foam comes up on to the cycle path. The Environment Agency are investigating to assess of the foam has harmed any wildlife . The foam reached as high as six foot in some places and covered a 30 metre stretch along the water in the Clayton area of Manchester . 'We are working with the fire service and taking samples of the foam to understand what it is made of, and what impact it may have on local wildlife in and around the canal.' At the height of the blaze on Sunday afternoon, which caused the foam, up to 50 firefighters were tackling the fire and police were also forced to wear face masks. Families in east Manchester were urged to say indoors after a blast was reported at the industrial unit, which is just a few hundred yards from the Manchester City training ground on the Etihad campus. The fire at the chemical factory next to Manchester City's Etihad stadium send a huge plume of smoke across the city on Easter Sunday . Police wearing face masks went around neighbouring streets with loudspeakers urging people to stay inside while the fire raged . Police officers also told children on bikes and mothers pushing prams near the scene to go home and went around neighbouring streets with loudspeakers urging people to stay inside. A huge plume of smoke also turned the sky black and could be seen right across the city and even into Salford. According to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, the fire was fueled by wooden pallets and unidentified chemicals but an investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing.
target: The Ashton Canal became filled with heavy suds due to a 6ft wall of foam created by fire crews tackling a blaze .
  The fire at a nearby chemical plant saw water from fire service mix with detergents that were being stored there .
  The foam covered a 30 metre stretch of the canal near Manchester City's Etihad stadium in Clayton .