Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

Albany Terrace, St Ives at 11/08/2020 21:36

At 21:36 we received a 999 call reporting smoke and possible flames coming from the former Edward Hain Hospital, St Ives. Three appliances from St Ives, Hayle and Tolvaddon were mobilised along with a Wholetime Station Manager from Penzance.

On arrival crews found smoke issuing from the property and sent an assistance message "Make Pumps 4".

The fourth appliance was sent from St Ives. Due to the size of the incident an Incident Command Unit from St Just was mobilised, along with an Operational Support Unit and additional Wholetime Station Manager from Falmouth.

4 Breathing Apparatus wearers were committed inside the building to undertake an interior fire attack supported by an external fire attack using main jets.

Assistance was requested from Devon and Cornwall Police due to the number of fire resources in and around the A3047 main road into St Ives. South Western Ambulance Service were informed but as there are no casualties their attendance is not required at this time.

UPDATE 22:51 Urgent Assistance - Make Pumps 6

6 Breathing Apparatus wearers committed inside the building. Fire spread is escalating.

UPDATE: 23:35 Additional Breathing Apparatus required. Two Technical Support Units have been mobilised.

UPDATE: 00:28 Fire now extinguished. Initial fire investigation carried out and the cause is likely to be accidental, possibly due to loose cables in a void. In addition to the large number of resources on scene, three additional On-Call crews have been on standby providing fire cover in St Ives, Tolvaddon and Falmouth.