60 firefighters called to West Drayton blaze
Firefighters were called to a fire in West Drayton on Saturday morning.
60 firefighters and 12 engines attended the fire which had spread to the ground floor, first floor and roof. Around 33 people were evacuated from the building but no casualties were reported. It took fire crews around 5 hours to bring the blaze under control.
The fire is the third large blaze in West Drayton this year, with the cloud of smoke being seen for several miles.
Local residents were asked to keep doors and windows shut. The cause of the fire is not yet known and an investigation is now underway.
Historic thatched cottages damaged in fire
A row of thatched cottages in Norfolk that date back to the 18th century have been damaged in a blaze.
More than 50 firefighters attended the fire and several families had to be evacuated from their homes. The listed buildings are said to be England’s longest single row of thatched cottages.
The cottages in Weeting near Brandon were also damaged in a fire in 2007.
An investigation is now being carried out to determine the cause of the fire.
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.
Body found in flat above charity shop after fire breaks out
The body of a man has been found in a flat above a charity shop in Surbiton after a fire broke out on the 1st April.
Mr George Quback who is the manager of the Cancer Research UK Charity Shop below the flat said: “I went round the back of the shop and saw the police try to break the window, but they couldn’t do it, so they used a ladder to go through the window on the first floor. It all happened very quickly. The police and the ambulance were here in about 5 minutes. They evacuated the houses next to the building.”
A neighbour who witnessed the incident said: “We were asleep but we just heard a lot of fire alarms and then there were a lot of police coming over. We didn’t know what was happening, we looked out of our window and there was a lot of smoke. I could see it coming from the first floor above the charity shop, the smell was really strong and the whole block was in smoke. We got out of the house and our other neighbours were standing around on the street, it was really bad.”
It took firefighters around 40 minutes to bring the fire under control.
An investigation will be carried out to determine how the fire started and a post mortem is scheduled to confirm how the man died.
Fire at North Shields recycling centre
Over 30 firefighters from 3 fire crews battled a serious fire at a recycling centre in North Shields last weekend.
The fire started at the North Tyneside Council Waste and Recycling Centre at around 10am on Saturday.
Emergency services closed lanes on the nearby dual carriage way due to the large amount of thick black smoke coming from the fire. Local residents were advised to keep doors and windows closed, and to remain inside if possible.
All staff were safely evacuated from the building and fire crews prevented the flames from spreading to neighbouring office blocks.
Kevin Dodds from Gosforth Fire Station said: “We quickly established and confirmed with the site management, that the materials on fire were not hazardous. That was initially our first concern, obviously for the safety of the crews involved and the public at large. The cause has yet to be investigated.”