Arson suspected in Gloucester fire
A fire which broke out in a derelict building in Gloucester on Saturday is thought to be arson.
The blaze, which broke out at around 1.30pm on Saturday, led to one of Gloucester’s busiest streets being closed off for the afternoon causing chaos for local businesses.
Local landlord Mark Summerell said: “We saw smoke coming out of the building so called the fire service. It took a while to get the building inspector here. If he’d been away for the bank holiday it could have cost us a few more quid. I don’t understand why they just can’t flatten the building anyway. It’s coming down one day either way.”
Firefighters were initially concerned that the building might collapse and was cordoned off for several hours. The building was declared safe by structural engineers from Gloucester City Council and the area was reopened at around 4.30pm.
Inspector Simon Todd from Gloucestershire Police has confirmed that they area treating the fire as arson.
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No working smoke alarms in home of fatal fire
A women has died in a fire at her home in Somercotes, Derbyshire.
The women thought to be in her 20’s has not been formally identified but tributes left near the property name the victim as ‘Suzanne’.
Initial findings show that the fire was started by discarded smoking materials and it is thought that the property was not fitted with working smoke alarms.
Fire crews from Alfreton and Ripley were called to the fire at around 4pm on Monday last week and discovered the body of a woman in a bedroom.
A neighbour who spotted the fire said that he had tried to get close to the house but couldn’t due to the amount of smoke coming from the property.
This is the 6th house fire death in Derbyshire this year. The Derby Telegraph and Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service are currently running a campaign highlighting the importance of having working smoke alarms in homes.
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 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.