Location: Garston, Liverpool
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service are in attendance at an incident on Chesterton Street, Garston.
Crews were alerted at 00.00 and on scene at 00.06, with six fire engines attending at the height of the incident.
This is a large brick built single storey building approximately 600 square metres, issuing a large amount of smoke, with the rear of the building fully involved in fire.
Crews have gained access to the premises and four firefighters in breathing apparatus (BA) have been committed, using two hose reel jets. One main cover jet has also been laid out.
The incident has been sectorised and a tactical plan is in place, with one main branch in use to fight the fire externally.
The responsible person for the building is in attendance. Two firefighters in BA are fighting the fire internally with one main jet.
Residents and businesses nearby should keep doors and windows closed. Those with existing health conditions should keep medicines nearby and if any ill effects are experienced dial NHS 111.
This incident is ongoing, please avoid the area.
UPDATE 02.00AM
Access via roller shutter door has been established, in preparation to commit firefighters in BA. Elsewhere, two firefighters in BA have been committed with one main jet.
Crews are making good progress, utilising two main jets to tackle the blaze externally.
The smoke plume has lifted from neighbouring Lock Street as Fire Service personnel work hard at scene to bring this incident to a conclusion.
UPDATE 09.30AM – Wednesday 6th November
Operational crews at scene have worked hard through the night to bring this incident under control by deploying firefighters in BA into the building targeting the remaining fire within the roof space in addition to external firefighting with two main jets.
By 02.51am on the morning of Wednesday 6th November, the main body of fire was extinguished and hot spotting and ventilation took place.
Following good progress by crews, at 03.09am, the decision was made to scale down this incident to three fire engines.
Firefighters used a nine metre ladder to peel back the roof area and hot spot the affected area.
One hose reel jet was used internally to hot spot as crews continued to cut back roof and hotspot externally.
At 05.20, a meeting took place with Liverpool City Council with road closures to be put in place. Crews continued to monitor temperatures and hotspot.
As the incident progressed, the incident was scaled down to two fire engines and a handover was completed, before again being scaled down to one fire engine at scene.
Merseyside Police cordons are in place and operational crews continue to hotspot, damp down, and monitor temperatures.
A full joint investigation between Merseyside Police and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to determine the cause of the fire is ongoing.