Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 01282 426161 (Advertising), Burnley 01282 422331 (Classified) 2 CWtheroe Advertiser & Times, Thursday, September 10l_h, 2009 www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk


Clitheroe 422324 (Editorial), 01282 426161 (Advertising), Burnley 01282 422331 (Classified) I continued from page 1


evastated, but owner


ed next to.the Tesco supermarket. With flames sweeping through the roof spaces of the row of terraced houses, quick­ thinking firefighters smashed roof tiles to create a “physical break” and stop the aggressive blaze from spreading any further. It then took the 16-strong team of


firefighters another two hours to bring the blaze under control. They remained at the scene until 2 a.m. damping down and making safe. Less than 24 hours later, fire crews


were mobilised again, this time to bat­ tle a huge blaze at Clitheroe’s Swan and Royal Hotel, which broke out just before midnight.


^ Landlady Carol Joy, her son Tez Joy.


and his fiancee BecTcy Wilkinson were rescued by firefighters from a balcony at the back of the Castle Street building, while around 170 revellers were evacu­ ated from the busy town centre pub. A total of 10 appliances attended the


' ONLOOKERS watch the fire-fighters trying to put out the flames. Clock­ wise: Firefighters smash roof tiles to prevent the fire spreading, John Spens- Icy surveys the charred remains of his shop, smoke billows out of the shop.


DEVASTATED pine shop owner John Spensley this week yowed to rebuild his business from its charred


remains. Speaking outside the


burnt-out shell of his Duck Street Clitheroe Country Furniture shop, Mr Spensley said: “We’re going to rebuild and hopefully reopen for Christmas.” Recalling the fateful events


of Friday evening, Mr Spens­ ley said how he had felt “numb” as he watched his business go up in flames. “It was extremely upset­


ting, but you’ve just got to roll with the punches and at least no one was hurt,” he added. Mr Spensley, who has run


the business for the past 20 years along with his wife


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News online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at


www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk WEATHER


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WEEKEND WEATHER: IT will be a sunny week­ end with mild temperatures.


SUNRISE: 6-39 a.m. SUNSET: 7-32 p.m. LIGHTING UP TIME: 7-02 p.m.


■ BURNLEY I ACCRINGTON *


blaze with at least 70 firefighters from Clitheroe and around East Lancashire tackling the fire. The fierce blaze gutted staff accommodation situated on the top floor above the hotel’s function room, while serious smoke and water damage was also, caused to other parts of the building. Guests at a 30th birthday party,


which was being held in the first floor function room, escaped the smoke and flames via fire escapes. Due to some people remaining unac­


counted for, firefighters wearing breath­ ing apparatus had to make a thorough search of the building. “People were coming out of the build­


ing at every angle and there was an extremely large number of people in


, Castle Street and Swan Courtyard who were all traumatised by the events that had just unfolded,” recalled Clitheroe Fire Station watch manager Dave McGrath. All three emergency services attend­


Jean, was only alerted to the blaze when an onlooker knocked on his door shortly after the fire started. “There were already loads


of people outside and some­ one had called the fire


brigade,” said Mr Spensley, who lives three doors down from the shop. Firefighters were soon at


the scene and evacuated neighbouring properties along the terraced row.


Tinker’s amazing survival


PENSIONER Elsie Booth was one of those evacuated. The 68-year-old, who shared her home with her son Gra-: ham, has lived next door to the pine shop for more than 30 years. Suffering from severe shock,


she was too distressed to talk this week, but her daughter Angela Sharrock, of Burnley, described the devastation the blaze has caused. “It’s your worst nightmare


and something you think is never going to happen to your family home,” said Angela. “My mother’s lost all her


belongings, they are all water damaged and completely wrecked. “Furniture can be replaced


but things of sentimental value can’t.” Thankfully, Elsie’s two pets,


her beloved 16-yearrold tom cat Tinker and her Amazon parrot Poppy were not harmed in the blaze. “She carried the bird cage out with her when she was


evacuated, but firefi^ters did­ n’t find the cat until 4 o’clock on Saturday morning. “They found him in the back room where all the main damage was. I don’t know how he could have survived,” Angela added. “We would like to thank all


the firefighters and the police officers who helped saved my


mother’s cat. We’d also like to thank Ribble Valley Homes for all their help.” Elsie, who is currently stay­


ing with relatives, will be tem­ porarily rehoused by Ribble Valley Homes, which ovras her Duck Street property, until repairs are completed. Elsie is pictured rescuing her parrot Poppy from the fire.


ed the incident, with five people taken to hospital by ambulance suffering from smoke inhalation. Police completely cordoned off


Clitheroe town centre, while firefighters continued to tackle the blaze into the early hours. Three ladders, a triple extension lad­


der and an aerial ladder platform were all used to reach the trapped members of the public and help extinguish the flames from above. The exact cause of the fire, which is


thought to have started in a linen room situated next to the hotel’s centre stair­ well, is still being investigated. Friday’s Duck Street fire, which was


initially being treated as “a fire of sus­ picious origin”, is now believed to have been caused by an electrical fault. Speaking about the Duck Street fire,


Mr McGrath said: “I can honestly say that at one point, due to the ferocity of the fire and the fact that it was trapped under the roof slates, there was a strong possibility it was going to spread ail along that terraced row.” He added: “The amount of water


coming out of the front door of the pine shop was like a river, but the fire was just not dying down. “At one point it was like we were pouring petrol on it. It took a good cou­ ple of hours to get the fire under control to the rear of the premises.” ' Recalling the Swan and Royal Hotel


blaze. Mr McGrath said: “You just think what could have happened with another hour’s drinking.” He added: “All three emergency services worked extremely well together and we’re just so grateful that no-one has lost their life and everyone managed to get out.” On a typically busy weekend in


Clitheroe town centre, both blazes were watched by crowds of onlookers.


1 a ■1 . j I-, r ; i l JO.Tt’’


www.clitheroeadvertiser.co.uk


Clitheroe Advertiser &Times, Thursday, September 10th, 2009 3


, •••.; j


Four are rescued from pub blaze by Faiza Af zaal


DETECTIVES investi­ gating two major fires in Clitheroe over the weekend have dismissed rumours


that they are linked. Det. Insp. Andy Hulme


said the fire at The Swan and Royal Hotel could have resulted in a fatality had it


: not been for the swift actions of the emergency services. A joint investigation by


police and fire and rescue is currently under way at the 18th century pub and hotel, a


large part of which was gutted by the ferocious fire on Satur­ day night. Five people had to be res­


cued by firefighters from the historic pub in Castle Street and were taken to hospital. At least 70 firefighters tack­


led the blaze, which gutted accommodation situated on the top floor above the hotel’s function room and caused serious smoke and water dam­ age to other parts of the building. Det Insp. Andy Hulme


said: “We are very much in the initial stages of our inves­


tigations and it is too early to say what caused the fire. “Both fire and rescue inves­


tigators, together with the crime scene manager from the police, are working together to establish the cause. “The building is being


assessed for structural dam­ age and the area has been cor­ doned off. “The police and fire service


are also working in partner­ ship with Ribble Valley Bor­ ough Council’s emergency planning teams to ensure the premises are made safe and to facilitate further examina­


tion.” Meanwhile, Det. Insp. Hulme revealed that a fire which ripped through a furni­ ture shop and also damaged two homes was no longer being treated as suspicious. The blaze at Clitheroe


Country Furniture Shop, in Duck Street, broke out after 7 p.m. on Friday. Officers were initially treating the fire as suspicious, but earlier this week ruled out arson. “We are satisfied that the


fire at the furniture shop was due to an electrical fault. We would like to reassure the local community that the fires


Landlord’s family was trapped inside


A QUICK-THINKING Clitheroe woman who helped evacuate guests from a busy Clitheroe pub has spoken of the “shocking” moment she discovered a fire had broken


, out. A former bar staff member


at The Swan and Royal Hotel, Nicola Smith (26) was


' enjoying a drink with her friend inside the Castle Street pub just before midnight on Saturday night when she noticed something wasn’t quite right. “The pub was very busy for


a Saturday night and then just after midnight I saw the manager rushing around with a fire extinguisher in his hand,” she recalled. “I could smell something burning and immediately ran towards the fear'of the bar and shouted at the staff to get out.” Nicola, who liyes in Hen-


thorn Road, had worked at the pub for five years and


. only left eight weeks ago, added: “Everyone seemed quite calni as they left the budding, but there seemed to be a lot of people there


because there was a 30th birthday party being held in the function room and the guests had to be evacuated via the fire escape. “I was just hoping it was a


small fire and no-one was injured. I then noticed one of the members of staff crying and she told me that three people remained trapped upstairs.


“The blaze was quite fierce .


and spread within a matter of minutes. We all had to leave the building and were stand­ ing outside when we noticed Terry, the landlord of the pub, crouched down on the opposite side of the road look­ ing in horror, while fire-fight­


over the weekend are not linked and any fears regarding this are completely unfound- ■ ed.” He added: “These incidents


are rare and we believe the swift actions of the fire and rescue service, the police and members of the public have averted what could have been a major tragedy. Both inci­ dents could quite easily have resulted in a fatality but thankfully this was not the case. “I would like to reassure the


Clitheroe community that every effort is being made to


establish the cause of the fire, including the collation of wit­ nesses and CCTV. A thorough forensic examination by fire investigation officers is con­ tinuing and this will assist in determining the cause of the fire.” Det. Insp. Hulme is contin­


uing to appeal for witnesses with any information, howev­ er small it may be, to come forward and contact either Clitheroe Police on 01200 443344 or 01254 51212. Our pictures show firefight­


ers battling the blaze at the Swan and Ro3^ Hotel


ers tried to rescue his wife, Carol, son Tez and his fiancee Becky. . “My heart goes out to


Terry and his family and I cannot put into words what they are going through. I’m just glad that no-one was badly injured.” Clitheroe Fire Station


watch manager Dave McGrath has praised staff at The Swan and Royal Hotel for the way they dealt with the incident. “Every credit must be given to the bar man­


ager and bar staff,” said Mr McGrath. “They worked extremely


hard to get as many people out as quickly and as s^ely as possible. They liased with the emergency services regarding the plans of the building and their information proved vitally important in stopping the fire spreading and in the rescue operation.” Our pictures show the land­


lord of The Swan and Royal Hotel, Terry Joy, and the damage caused by the fire.


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