Fire rips through seaside town's pier
- 00:01:20
- ITN
Fire rips through seaside town's pier
Fire has destroyed the pier in the Lancashire seaside town of Fleetwood. At the height of the blaze, ten pumps and up to 90 firefighters were involved in the operation to bring the flames under control. It is believed the fire started near the entrance to the derelict pier, between a disused cafe and pub. The wind was offshore so homes on the promenade were not in danger and did not need to be evacuated as the smoke and flames were being blown out to sea. The flames caught hold at the front of the pier and worked their way along the structure, reducing it to a pile of twisted metal. A spokesman for Lancashire Fire and Rescue said the blaze began near a derelict pub and cafe, but it was too early to say if it was started maliciously. He said: "At 4.30am a phone call was made to the control room from a member of the public saying smoke was coming from the pier. "Eight fire engines went out and on arrival a further two engines were sent to pump water from a boating lake one mile away to help extinguish the fire. "Sixty firefighters are at the scene along with two aerial ladder platforms. "When they got there it was well alight and structurally it has been destroyed. "It was a derelict pier with nothing in use at the time. "It was suspected the fire started at the front near where the pub and cafe are. "How it started we don't know yet." Fleetwood Pier had a promenade deck and jetty 600ft long with an ornate pavilion of oriental appearance at the shoreward end. It was opened to the public in 1911 and remained profitable throughout the declining years of the seaside resort, even receiving a £70,000 facelift in 1972. But in recent years it has gone through changes of ownership and uncertainty over its future. Last year there was a row over plans to build apartments on the structure. Hundreds of people signed a petition objecting to a housing development. Tim Phillips, chairman of the National Piers Society, said: "It is another sad day, though it is a very different situation from the pier at Weston. "The sad thing here has been that the owner has been having difficulty getting consent to what he wanted to do with the pier. Half the community wanted to see the pier developed and half didn't. "Fleetwood is not the highlight of commercial success, it's rather out on a limb, and has some problems, with people sleeping under the pier and so on. "The sadness is that it's a great location, it needs a few heads knocking together and a bit of PR, and it can grow again. "I'm an optimist, and unless the sub structure is severely damaged, I think it can rise again."
ITN | September 9, 2008
