Surrey nursery school destroyed in suspicious fire
A nursery school in Surrey has been seriously damaged after a fire broke out on 2nd December.
The fire broke out at around 4am at Toad Hall Nursery off Wishbone Way in Woking. Six fire engines attended the incident.
Jason Remnant from the fire service said that the roof of the nursery has been completely destroyed and that the first floor had collapsed.
Another business which is part of the same building was also damaged in the incident but this is not thought to be serious.
It is not yet known how the fire started but foul play is suspected. A full investigation will now be carried out.
Homes lose power after metal thieves set fire to telegraph pole
A gang of thieves have set fire to a telegraph pole in an attempt to steal copper cable.
The fire caused many local homes and businesses to lose power.
The fire was started in the early hours of Thursday, 29th November near to the Cybi Retail Park in Kingsland Road Holyhead.
Investigating officer PC Joe Hawken from Holyhead Police Station said: “This was a totally mindless and dangerous act as thousands of volts of electricity run through these cables and the consequences of this criminality could have been fatal. We believe the offenders started the fire sometime after midnight and at about 5am that morning the electricity ‘tripped’ knocking off power to a large area of Kingsland and some local businesses. When Scottish Power attended the disruption they discovered the damage and alerted police. I can only assume the fire and subsequent reaction caused such noise that they ran from the scene no doubt contemplating just how close they came to being killed for a relatively small amount of copper.”
PC Hawken later added: “People often think stealing from large corporations is a victimless crime however the consequences are stark and can affect the whole community. Not only have these mindless idiots narrowly escaped death but they also caused a power loss to several households and two local supermarkets causing inconvenience and hardship to hundreds. I would therefore appeal to the community if they saw any suspicious activity in Cybi Retain Park during the early hours of Thursday morning, or knows who is responsible for this act to contact me by phoning 101.”
Anyone with information is asked to contact North Wales Police on 101 or alternatively contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 and quote RC12197057.
Large blaze breaks out at North Berwick fire station
Around 40 firefighters have been tackling a large fire at the fire station in North Berwick.
The fire broke out at around 5am on Monday and was dealt with by crews from East Linton, Haddington, Dunbar, Newcraighall, Tranent, an Incident Support Unit from Marionville and a Command Support Unit from Liberton.
Lothian and Borders Fires and Rescue Service have confirmed that the building and two appliances which were inside the building at the time of the fire have been badly damaged.
Eye witness, Craig McLaren, said: “I arrived this morning at about 5.20am and saw smoke and thought someone was burning something. I went over to investigate and the fire station was on fire. By 5.30am, the station was in flames. When the flames broke through it was a blaze of fire probably about 50m above the roof, it was ferocious. My main worry was there could have been an explosion.”
Another eye witness who works at Castle Cottage Interiors across near to the station said: “I noticed something was wrong when I came to work at seven this morning. I panicked at first because I thought it was our workshop on fire. There were no flames but there was lots of smoke.”
A spokeswoman for the fire and rescue service said: “Firefighters are working very hard to bring the fire at North Berwick’s retained station under control. There is still heavy smoke coming from the blaze and police are in attendance to assist early morning commuters trying to access the train station, which is at the rear of the fire station.”
The spokeswoman added: “A risk assessment was carried out and as smoke was blowing towards the sea it was deemed safest to leave residents in a nearby housing estate indoors and clear from the worst of the smoke and the cold weather. Crews have been working very hard in difficult weather conditions to extinguish the blaze. Fire investigation is on the scene but it is too early to say what caused the fire.”
12 dogs die in barn after electric heater causes fire
Eight puppies and four adult Alsatians have died in a fire which broke out in a barn in Rochdale.
Greater Manchester Fire Service attended the fire which started when an electric heater was knocked over at around 2.30am on 22nd November but sadly were unable to rescue the dogs.
Neil Fox from the fire service said: “They were breeding them in the barn and they were all young dogs so it was a real shame. They had a portable infrared heater keeping them warm and it looks like that was the cause. Electric heaters can be a fire hazard so never leave them unattended or stand them where they could be knocked over. Make sure heaters are always guarded.”
Londonderry hospital reopens after two fires in two weeks
A hospital in Londonderry which has been partly closed due to two fires breaking out within two weeks has been deemed safe to use again by the health minister Edwin Poots.
Seven wards at Altnagelvin Hospital were evacuated last week after a fire started on the roof of the building.
Mr Poots said: “I wouldn’t want people to become frightened or afraid of actually using the facility. An investigation is being carried out, and I wouldn’t want to prejudge it, but the fire service are following a particular lead and I would be fairly confident that it will be proved that it was not the fabric of the building that was the problem. This building isn’t sitting with faulty wiring which is causing fires in it – that isn’t the case.”
SDLP representative, Pat Ramsey had voiced his concerns as to the safety of the building and demanded an inspection of the building. Mr Ramsey said: “It is imperative, absolutely essential, that the department of health or other bodies who have a jurisdiction in this – health and safety – carry out an inspection of the tower block as it is commonly known.”
Geraldine Hillick, the hospital’s director of acute services said: “If we deemed the area unsafe for patients we wouldn’t have been using it, so from our point of view the wards were safe for the patients to be cared for in.”
Barry McDowell from the Fire service said the cause of the fire was under investigation but arson is not suspected at this time. It is likely that the fire started accidentally in a plant room on the roof.
Mr McDowell said: “We believe a water pipe melted, and a lot of water then started coming down through the hospital.”
Around 120 patients had to be moved from the affected wards on Friday night but the trust has said that five out of the seven wards evacuated are now operating normally.