11.30hrs Wednesday 24 October - FIRE INVESTIGATION UPDATE
Following a joint investigation with Humberside Police we can confirm that a fire which started in a hotel building in Bridlington last week is not being treated as suspicious.
An investigation was launched following the fire which started in part of the building on West Street on Wednesday 17 October. Due to the condition of the building, a full investigation could not be carried out immediately because of difficulties in accessing the premises and concerns for safety.
Sophisticated equipment has since been used which has found that the fire was not started deliberately.
The building suffered significant structural damage. It has been made safe and a controlled demolition is now being carried out by its owners.
16.30hrs Thursday 18 October, 2018
Fire Investigation Officers are currently unable to enter the building to begin their probe into the cause and origin of the fire which severely damaged the Londesborough Hotel in West Street, Bridlington. The building's structural integrity can not be guaranteed at this time and senior officers are awaiting engineers to deem the property safe to enter.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service were called at 13.36hrs on Wednesday 17 October to reports of a fire in the upper floors of the Londesborough Hotel. At its height during mid-afternoon, there were six engines and two aerial ladder platforms (ALPs) tackling the fire. The HFRS Command Unit was brought from Brough to provide a central point for officers to co-ordinate their response. Humberside Police attended to close roads around the hotel and Yorkshire Ambulance Service stood by in case of any casualties.
The full list of resources sent is as follows:
2 x Bridlington engines
2 x ALP (inc. 1 from North Yorks)
2 x Driffield engines
1 x Market Weighton engine
1 x Beverley engine
1 x Command Unit + supporting Brough engine
In total, around 35 firefighters and five officers attended the incident.
OIC Dave Bristow commented on the swift and effective response to the incident:
'We were concerned about the spread to adjacent properties, the fire was well developed in the roof area and was significant. The roof and upper floors were completely destroyed, but we had a lot of resource here very quickly and tackled the fire without compromising the safety of our firefighters or local residents.'
Social media was used to warn and inform those in the vicinity to close windows and doors, avoid the area in vehicles and leave space for the emergency services to do their job. Residents were quick to take to Twitter to praise the work of the crews:
@StirkCraig66: "Well done fire services - proud of you"
@Charlottecroma2: "Amazing work by all of your team. Residents of West Street are very grateful to you."
Crews tackled the fire throughout the afternoon and long into the evening and were still damping down at midnight. Local crews returned every few hours to check for 'hot spots' or reignition sources.
The hope was to begin the fire investigation the following morning (Thursday), but the building has not been deemed safe enough for FI Officers to start the work alongside colleagues from Humberside Police. It may be a few days until the cause and origin are known.