Elderly residents evacuated during Netham Road blaze

stgeorge&redfieldvoice January, 2019

Elderly residents evacuated during Netham Road blaze

A HUGE fire in Redfield saw 23 elderly residents from a sheltered accommodation block evacuated to a nearby care home in the early hours of the morning.

The blaze broke out 2:30am on Saturday 15 December at commercial premises on Netham Road.

Due to the location of the fire several nearby premises were evacuated as a precautionary measure; including the nearby Orchard Court, a sheltered accommodation scheme run by Bristol City Council. There were no reported injuries.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AF&RS) have described the fire as ‘substantial’ and the size of the fire meant that 10 fire engines and 2 turntable ladders attended. Crews used breathing apparatus and firefighting jets to bring the fire under control.

All three emergency services worked in partnership to resolve this incident and ensure residents could return to their homes as soon as possible.

Precautions were in place even after the blaze was under control, with South Western Ambulance recommending that residents in the immediate area

remained indoors with windows closed.

Avon and Somerset Police has asked that anyone who saw suspicious activity in the area from 0230 on 15 December to please contact them on 101.

Matt Peskett, Area Manager for AF&RS, said: "Crews from a number of stations worked incredibly hard to bring this incident under control safely and quickly."

The building was home to many artists, makers, musicians and inventors.

The fire completely destroyed nearly everyone's units and all of their belongings. A crowdfunding campaign has been set up to buy some new resources or to help them find a new space, or some other support that they may see fit. Details at: www. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ whitefactorycreativesrebuild