Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Molesworth Street, Wadebridge at 09/04/2005 18:17

Firefighters from Wadebridge, Padstow, Bodmin, St Columb, Lostwithiel, Newquay and St Columb worked extremely hard to extinguish a fire at the Articrafts Art Shop, Molesworth Street, Wadebridge on Saturday night.

The brigade was called at 6.17pm to the shop, which was already ablaze, The large fire was spreading to the two shops next door. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus fought the fire using hoses and jets. The adjoining properties were starting to become heavily smoke logged, so more firefighters were called to help control the blaze.

Over fifty firefighters battled with the blaze for several hours. The aerial ladder platform allowed firefighters to tackle the blaze from above as well as on the ground. At one point part of the building collapsed but nobody was hurt. The firefighters managed to stop the fire spreading and extinguished it four hours after the 999 call.

The brigade remained at the incident throughout the night checking for ‘hot spots’ and ensuring the fire did not start up again.

A fire investigation team were called to the scene. Their initial investigations reveal that it was not arson, but accidental.