Date: 25th June, 2021
Multiple crews from wholetime and on-call stations were called to a fire at the Burger King restaurant on Queens Drive, Swindon yesterday (24 June) which started in the roof of the building.
Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene at 6.47pm and, at the height of the incident, there were seven fire engines and one aerial ladder platform in attendance – from Swindon, Westlea, Stratton, Cricklade and Royal Wootton Bassett.
Initially crews wearing breathing apparatus used two main lines and two hose reel jets entered the building to fight the fire but building soon became unstable so were withdrawn and firefighting continued externally with the assistance of the aerial ladder platform which was used as a water tower.
Shortly after 9:30pm the incident was scaled back and by 11:30pm the remining appliances had left the scene. A further reinspection for hotspots was undertaken at 01:00am and again at 07:00 today (25 June)
Queens Drive was closed for some hours due to the amount of smoke creating poor visibility and local residents were also asked to close their windows and doors.
Group Manager Greg Izon said: “I am extremely grateful to all our firefighters who worked incredibly hard, both to contain the fire within the roof and to ensure the fire was extinguished quickly which limited the fire damage to the rest of the building. Thankfully there were no casualties at this incident. The cause of the fire is not yet known but is under investigation.”
He added “I would also like to thank our partners Wiltshire Police, South Western Ambulance Service and Swindon Borough Council for their assistance at this incident.”
Three of the pumps that attended this incident were crewed by on-call firefighters. If you are interested in finding out more about the role of an on-call firefighter and want to apply, visit our website www.dwfire.org.uk/on-call-firefighters/