Fire In Westcliff - Leigh-on-Sea

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leigh News. A FIRE that raged through the building where the HARP charity shop is located in Westcliff, has left a roof and top floor partially collapsed

A FIRE that raged through the building where the HARP charity shop is located in Westcliff, has left a roof and top floor partially collapsed

Firefighters were called to reports of a blaze in the three-storey building in Hamlet Court Road, between London Road and Anerley Road, at 8.20pm on Sunday, May 21.

Pictures taken at the site show the scale of damage to the old corner building, whose roof and top floor were completely alight.

Eight crews worked hard to put the blaze out, staying at the incident overnight until 10.30am on Monday May 22, to extinguish the fire and dampen down hotspots.

The first floor, which were unoccupied flats, have suffered significant damage as the roof and top floor partially collapsed.

Although the ground floor did not suffer any damage, fire crews were not sure of the extent of the smoke and water damage, so the HARP charity shop was temporarily closed as a result.

Group Manager Ben Turner said: “As it was unsafe for firefighters to enter the building, we have used two of our Aerial Ladder Platforms, from Chelmsford and Grays.

“Crews have worked really hard to get the fire under control and stop it from spreading.

“The first floor, which were unoccupied flats, have suffered significant damage because the roof and second (top) floor partially collapsed.

“Although the ground floor did not suffer any fire damage, we are not sure of the extent of the smoke and water damage at this stage. We have worked closely with the Ambulance Service, Essex Police, local authority and utilities companies to resolve the incident.”

Eight crews, two Aerial Ladder Platforms and an Incident Command Unit, from Hawkwell, were in attendance at the height of the incident.

A man was treated for the effects of breathing in smoke and left in the care of the Ambulance Service.

Essex Fire and Rescue added that the cause of the of the fire had not been established, saying: “It has been concluded that the cause of the fire is unknown.”

Picture: Damage to the building

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