Investigations continue into Douglas shop fire

The fire service has confirmed it is still looking into the cause of the blaze which caused damage to stores in the Isle of Man capital on Tuesday morning.

The emergency services were called to the blaze which had broken out in Topshop, located between Lord Street and Duke Street, about 0330 GMT.

Four hours later the fire crews were still attending to the fire and making the area safe, with cordons put in place for a while.

A number of shops in the vicinity were affected by the blaze, with most suffering smoke damage. These businesses included the Co-op, a clothes store and the offices of ECS International and Baker Tilly.

Speaking about this serious fire, Chief Fire Officer Kevin Draper said:

“I would anticipate that most of the stock in the shop will be damaged beyond saleability.

“It was a very serious fire and crews had to force entry and deal with very hot dirty, difficult conditions.

“We are now doing a joint police and fire investigation. At this stage we don’t rule anything in or anything out.”

It has been confirmed that nobody was injured in the fire, with the probe now underway into the cause of the fire.