Arson suspected at Caversham Age UK charity shop
A charity shop in Caversham was damaged in a suspected arson attack last night.
The blaze broke out in the stock room of the shop at around 11.30pm last night.
Firefighters from Caversham Road tackled the blaze. Dave Hawkins from the fire service said: “We believe there was a forced entry at the back. Police are investigating and we’re carrying out our own investigation. Quite a bit of stock was damaged and the room is destroyed.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire is now underway.
40 firefighters called to Dyfed blaze
A huge fire broke out at Dyfed Cleaning Services in Milford Haven on Wednesday 13th April.
The fire on St Peters Road broke out at around midnight on Wednesday and was tackled by around 40 firefighters, 6 water tenders, 2 aerial, 2 water carriers and high volume pump and environment units.
Steve Bryant, Incident Commander said: “Our crews worked very hard throughout the night to fight and contain the fire. Both the location of the premises and a nearby Railway Line made access difficult. Crews were at the scene all night and will remain there during the day to ensure the fire is properly extinguished.”
People living in the area were advised that they may need to evacuate their homes but the firefighters managed to bring the fire under control in time.
An investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the blaze.
200 escape fire at Cheltenham nightclub
A fire broke out at a Cheltenham nightclub in the early hours of the 5th of April.
200 revellers were safely evacuated from Lace Night Club in Cheltenham.
The fire which was thought to have started in an air conditioning unit in the roof of the building was attended by 20 firefighters who managed to extinguish the blaze.
Mark Astle from the fire service said: “When our crews arrived, they were met by a full scale evacuation and smoke pouring from the roof. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and quickly completed a search for anyone left. Other crews made their way to the top of the building and extinguished the fire, which had spread into cabling. Thankfully, the quick actions of the nightclub staff in clearing the building of so many people prevented this becoming potentially a much more serious incident.”
The cause of the blaze is not yet known but an investigation is being carried out.
Man dies in fire at his Hertfordshire home
A 53 year old man has died in a fire at a block of flats in Letchworth, Hertfordshire.
25 firefighters from Biggleswade and Letchworth fire stations attended the blaze which broke out at around midnight last Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance service said: “Most of the residents were out of the flats on our arrival and were being cared for by police in the street adjacent to the fire.”
The block of flats were cordoned off for some time after the incident while police officers carried out an investigation into the cause of the blaze.
Fire destroys house leaving family homeless
A fire that broke out in a Newton Abbot home has left a family with only the clothes they were wearing.
Samantha Fallon has lived in the property for 27 years but has now been temporarily re-housed in a Chudleigh bed and breakfast with her 3 children.
Samantha was not in the house at the time of the blaze, but her 18 year old daughter Chloe was inside watching the television. On discovering the fire, Chloe fled from the house and alerted the emergency services.
Firefighters from Newton Abbot, Ashburton and Torquay attended the fire at around 3pm on Monday.
The fire which is thought to have started by discarded smoking materials destroyed much of the property and its contents leaving the family with nothing but the clothes they were wearing at the time of the fire.
Samantha said: “Friends and neighbours have been very helpful and really kind and say that if there is anything they can do, they will do it. But we feel so far away from our home at the moment. It’s costing me a fortune in bus fares. I find it difficult to relax because I have so much to sort out. I have nothing — the clothes I am wearing today are the ones I was wearing on the day of the fire. We are not able to take clothes from the house because they were too badly damaged by the toxic fumes and smoke. I did not have contents insurance because I could not afford it.”
The family hope that they will be able to move back into the house and are in talks with the landlord to see if this is going to be possible.