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England: Multi-storey carpark in Liverpool gutted by fire, 1,300
vehicles destroyed
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January 4, 2018
Original URL: https://en.wikinews.org/wiki/England:_Multi-storey_carpark_in_Liverpool_gutted_by_fire,_1,300_vehicles_destroyed
A fire on Sunday night in the seven-storey carpark for the Echo Arena in
Liverpool, England destroyed almost all the vehicles parked inside and
led to cancellation of the final evening of the Liverpool International
Horse Show and evacuation of nearby blocks of flats. The blaze
reportedly started with a parked Range Rover Discovery.
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Investigators with the fire brigade stated that they believe the fire
began with an accidental engine fire in the Range Rover at about 4.30
pm. The first call was made at 4.42 and firefighters arrived eight
minutes after that. Ultimately twelve engines and 85 firefighters were
involved in combatting the blaze. Aerial appliances were used and also
three high-volume pumps. Fed by the fuel in vehicles parked inside, the
temperature of the fire in the carpark is believed to have reached as
high as 1,000°C. It was too hot to be extinguished with water from
hydrants, so a high-volume pump was used to draw water from the River
Mersey, and two more were brought from other fire brigades in the
region. The carpark has seven storeys and a capacity of 1,600 vehicles,
and approximately 1,300 were parked in it when the fire broke out.
According to Dan Stephens, chief fire officer for Merseyside Fire and
Rescue Service, almost all of them were destroyed, with the exception of
a few parked on the top level and at corners. "With these very high
temperatures, you were never going to put the fire out without the whole
building taking hold. The speed at which the fire spreads means you
simply aren’t going to put it out," said Stephens.
The carpark itself was severely damaged; according to Joe Anderson, the
mayor of Liverpool. It is not in danger of collapsing but will have to
be demolished, which will be difficult with the many burned-out cars
still inside it, Anderson told the BBC.
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According to Stephens, there were no serious injuries: one woman injured
her hand, and two people were treated for smoke inhalation. A spokesman
for the Echo Arena also stated that all animals were safe. All horses
were successfully evacuated from the carpark and then removed from the
stables after smoke spread to them. Six dogs were also rescued unharmed,
two on a lower level in the early stages of the fire and four that had
been left in a car on the top level, freed by firefighters on Monday
after the fire was put out.
The final evening of the four-day Liverpool International Horse Show had
been scheduled to begin at 7.30, and had to be cancelled. Many attendees
were stranded in the city on New Year's Eve night. Merseyside police
directed people to the Pullman Hotel, where Red Cross assistance was
available, and the Liverpool City Council set up an assistance centre at
the Lifestyles Gym. A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers
has said that insurance companies will "move very quickly" to reimburse
owners whose vehicles were destroyed.
Nearby blocks of flats were evacuated because of the smoke. Eyewitnesses
reported hearing what they at first thought were firecrackers, then
"multiple explosions", "bangs and popping", "the bangs of car windows
exploding". People reported leaving everything in their cars, including
their cellphones, and running for their lives.
Mayor Anderson tweeted that cuts to fire services over the last two
years made it significantly harder to fight the fire and might have
caused it not to be controllable. He also suggested that fire safety in
multi-storey carparks had not been sufficiently considered and that
installing sprinklers in them might help stop future fires before they
became unmanageable, in a letter to Nick Hurd, a member of Parliament.
== Sources ==
* http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-42542556
* http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-42533830
* https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/01/six-dogs-rescued-liverpool-multistorey-car-park-fire-horse-show
* https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/dec/31/horse-show-cancelled-after-car-park-fire-at-liverpool-echo-arena
|pub=The Guardian
|date=January 1, 2018
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