Commercial building in Leicestershire totally destroyed by extensive fire

The blaze broke out at the Paragon Building in Saffron Road and required eleven fire crews and more than 100 firefighters from the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service to contain it.

The large demand for water to tackle the fire was supported by drawing from the Grand Union Canal and pumping it for one kilometre to the site. There were several buildings impacted by the fire. Required resources included an aerial ladder platform in order to prevent the fire from spreading to nearby businesses. Local residents had to contend with extensive plumes of smoke shortly after the fire broke out.

While the business reports 250 people employed at this inbound mail processing facility, there were 134 present at the site that day. Thankfully, there were no reported injuries.

The impact on the local community and environment was significant with local road closures, trains halted and nearby residents forced to close windows and doors. There were a number of measures employed to minimise the impact of pollution within the local environment.

The host business was reported to be initiating a contingency plan to manage the impact of this catastrophic fire. What remains of its sprawling 15,000 m² facility is reported to require demolition.

Scale of the fire

Many commentators would be surprised by the scale of the fire given that it involved a commercial mail handling operation.

Another two businesses currently counting the cost of a destructive fire episode are on an industrial estate in Corby. In the early hours of 25 April, fire crews from the Northampton Fire and Rescue Service were called to a major fire in a warehouse unit which housed two businesses. This building housed a modestly sized floor area of circa 2,000 m².

At the height of the blaze, there were nine fire engines tackling the flames with appliances from Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire all involved. The Fire and Rescue Services contained the fire, but were unable to save the building, which was completely destroyed.

Halting the spread of fire when it’s first detected is the best way in which to limit damage and minimise costs and impacts. Sprinklers have been shown to contain, control or otherwise extinguish fires in 99% of cases when caused to operate. The impacted business can be operational once again within hours, thereby avoiding the economic and social costs.

Commercial and industrial fires such as those outlined underscore the need for an increased emphasis on resilience alongside life safety as a reasonable requirement. Recognising the importance of business resilience would result in more buildings being designed and constructed to withstand disproportionate damage through combinations of passive and active fire safety measures.

*Further information on the Business Sprinkler Alliance is available online at www.business-sprinkler-alliance.org