Residents evacuated during huge fire (From Basingstoke Gazette)

You shouldn't be celebrating the removal of a bloody awful eyesore...People could have been seriously injured.

Regardless of the planning implications have a little more thought please.

You shouldn't be celebrating the removal of a bloody awful eyesore...People could have been seriously injured.

Regardless of the planning implications have a little more thought please.

when the darkness feel you would be forgiven in thinking it was about to pore with rain then came the intense burning smell that filled my home and then it did rain but not water,it was raining fire, very frightening.today it will emerge that there has been a lot of damage to all surrounding areas i live in quilter road near Brighton hill school and it has burnt my daughters trampoline.i wish to thank all the emergency services who work tiresly through the nite

cllr_Yerhavinalarf, What a vile person you are, regardless of what you think of Brighton Hill people in general why would you be so rude about what was, i should imagine a scary time for the near-by residents.

Yes people do appear to have gone to watch, this is a natural reaction to such a big thing, and not just because they are from Brighton Hill !

If you feel so against the area why would you go to the bother of reading and commenting ? Do us all a favour and keep your stupid petty minded comments to yourself ! They have no bearing on the actual story at all !

What a very grown up and well thought response !

If you had stuck to just explaining your disgust at Rubberneckers, im sure we would have all agreed.

So no other points thank you i think you have made enough of a fool of yourself already and i dont tend to get into conversations with people that cant have a grown up sensible conversation.

You are setting out to upset and offend people which really is not necessary ?

Enjoy your day !

aha!

Lets pray that there have not been any injuries!

And we must thank ALL of the emergency services for the excellent and often dangerous work that they carry out.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion like yerhavinalarf and I agree that rubber necking is dangerous. But using the word "RETARD" I find highly offensive.

Your the only "MORON" here!

thank you for removing the offensive comments made earlier on this site!

OK - now for some facts:

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has successfully tackled a large-scale incident which started in the Brighton Hill area of Basingstoke on Friday, 10 September.

At 18:21 control room operators at Hampshire Fire and Rescue were alerted to a serious fire involving a large timber framed building under construction in Gershwin Road, Basingstoke.

Firefighters at the scene swiftly expressed major concerns over the potential for the fire to spread due to the prevailing wind conditions and resources were mobilised from across Hampshire, Royal Berkshire, and Surrey fire and rescue services to tackle the incident.

As operations continued throughout the night, fire engines from Basingstoke, Overton, Tadley, Whitchurch, Hartley Wintney, Alton, Fleet, Stockbridge, Sutton Scotney, Alresford, Mortimer, Camberley, Guildford and Witley Wood were all mobilised to the scene. Specialist appliances in attendance included the Service’s Incident Command Unit, Command Support Unit, three water carriers, specialist equipment unit, two aerial ladder platforms, a multi-role vehicle, and the emergency catering unit. More than 20 relief crews have also assisted at the scene.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service worked in partnership with Hampshire Constabulary, South Central Ambulance Service, and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to minimise disruption to residents in the Brighton Hill area during the incident. Hampshire County Council also set up a rest centre at Lodden Vale Indoor Bowls Club to look after the needs of residents that were evacuated as a result of the incident.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Chief Officer, John Bonney, who is also President of the Chief Fire Officers Association, attended the scene of the challenging blaze and warned about the danger of timber framed buildings.

Mr. Bonney said:

"This incident has once again highlighted just how potentially dangerous the threat of fire can be in timber framed buildings whilst they are under construction. When timber framed buildings catch fire the actual structure burns. It often leads to total collapse and that puts the safety of our firefighters at risk.

“The potential for fire spread was clearly of major concern at this incident, and shows that the Chief Fire Officers' Association is right to be increasingly worried about the number and severity of fires in timber framed buildings under construction.”

The stop message was received at 10:04 on Saturday, 11 September and confirmed that the incident involved a timber framed building under construction, approximately 75m x 70m, which was 100% severely damaged by fire. Two tower cranes and assorted builders’ vehicles were also damaged by fire. Approx 50 surrounding dwellings and Brighton Hill Community College were affected by smoke and flame brands.

Two aerial ladder platform monitors, eight ground monitors, one jet, eight hose reels, six knapsack tanks, and 12 sets of breathing apparatus were used to tackle the fire. It is expected that damping down will continue for some considerable time and a joint investigation is now underway with fire investigation officers and the police to establish the cause of the blaze

(from: http://www.hantsfire
.gov.uk/recentincide
nts.htm?newsid=56764
&textid=201010091821
)