Ryan Caulfield
News Story
B&M Fire- Clifton Moor
Huge Blaze Causes Panic to People of York
A huge blaze took place in the north of the city of York on Saturday. B&M at Clifton Moor caught fire and everyone had to be evacuated before fire fighters arrived. Nobody was injured but people living nearby were advised to close all windows, due to the thick black cloud of smoke which was feared contained toxic waste.
Liam Cadd, a personal trainer at Pure Gym on Clifton Moor, said within an hour the B&M store had been “engulfed” in flames. He said: “It must have been after 4.30pm when one of the members knocked on the office door and said there was a fire next door. The police asked us to evacuate the gym.
“The fire looked like it was in the store yard but then we could see flames coming through the roof. We heard banging and popping noises, we don’t know if there were fireworks inside. We were told there may be compressed gas cylinders inside.
“We could feel the heat from the fire, it was quite strong. The back of the store started falling apart and the whole building is demolished.”
He said about 60 people were evacuated from the gym, which is about 30 yards from the store, and added: “Everyone at the gym was fine and no one was injured.”
The fire sparked an immediate foray on social media, with people taking to Twitter primarily to post their latest tweets and videos of the fire, revealing the shocking damage caused by the fire. Not before long, there were hundreds of tweets online and everybody was reacting to what had happened at Clifton Moor, the majority shocked.
The fire is thought to have been caused by discarded smoking materials in the rear loading area of the store. A shopper at the scene said: “It smells acrid, it’s disgusting. It looks like a volcano, there are massive plumes of smoke that suddenly shoot out.
“Quite a big area has been sealed off and there is thick, dense black smoke which you must be able to see from absolutely miles away. It’s billowing north. The incident command unit has just arrived. The traffic is totally gridlocked.”
A very scary event that could’ve ended with many fatalities, but thankfully for the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue team and the police, communication was at a good standard and everyone could be evacuated successfully from the nearby buildings.