thisishampshire.net | Your portal to Hampshire

Crematorium badly damaged in blaze

From the archive, first published Friday 19th Mar 2004.

BASINGSTOKE Crematorium was badly damaged in a serious fire that required emergency services to be drafted in from across north Hampshire.

Fifty firefighters were involved in the effort to tackle the fire, which broke out on Wednesday evening in the roof above the cremators. In the end, a quarter of the roof was destroyed, but the chapel and public areas were saved from the flames. The cost of the damage is as yet unclear.

A crematorium worker called the fire brigade just after 7pm after smelling smoke. Station Officer Paul Coates, from Basingstoke fire station, said: "When we arrived there was light smoke, but no visible flames inside the building as the fire was between the wall and the roof. There was no way to get into it and it burst out on the outside and inside."

The firefighters were able to construct a firebreak to stop the flames from spreading and tackled the burning roof from above by using an aerial platform.

"We had problems with water supplies as there is no hydrant at the crematorium, so we used the pond at the front of the building," said Station Officer Coates, who added that firefighters had removed empty caskets and coffins to ensure they were not damaged.

Station Officer Rob Furniss, of the Fire Investigation Unit, said the cause of the blaze had yet to be established. However, he said: "There is nothing suspicious. I think that the fire is related to the fact that it's a crematorium - it was contained in the roof space of the cremation area."

Speaking about the crematorium technician who called out the fire brigade, Mr Furniss said: "His prompt actions saved a lot of damage."

The blaze was deemed to be under control by 9pm, although firefighters remained at the scene until 3am, checking for any "hotspots" that could cause it to break out again.

The crematorium opened as usual yesterday morning, despite the events of the previous night.

Natasha Rees, corporate communications co-ordinator for Dignity Funerals, the company that runs the crematorium, said all of the cremations on Wednesday had been completed before the incident occurred, and no coffins or caskets were damaged in the blaze.

She added: "None of the public areas were affected by the fire. The chapel was not affected and we will be able to have services there, but we will be arranging for the cremations to take place at another site."

She added that there would be no disruption caused to families due to hold funeral services at the crematorium, and said that they would be kept fully informed about the situation.

Archive Home