'A huge plume was drifting down terraced streets'

The fire in Crewe in August 2024 was declared a major incident by firefighters

Arriving on the scene of a fire that would later be declared a major incident, Cheshire Fire and Rescue station manager Andy Hallworth knew that he and his colleagues were about to face a serious challenge.

"You tend to get a sense of what an incident is like from the radio messages, the sense of urgency from the commanders sending them, the background noises you can hear."

The fire, at a former printworks in Crewe on 9 August 2024, "grew so quickly", he said, adding: "We really had to find different access points to stop it spreading to the adjacent houses."

More than 350 people were forced from their homes while 18 appliances fought the blaze at the disused building, which later led to two men being jailed for arson.

Andy Hallworth from Cheshire Fire and Rescue said the location of the blaze in a built-up area was a big challenge

"It was a large building in a very, very built-up area, access for our fire appliances was difficult," said the officer.

There were also concerns about the number of people being exposed to the smoke, and the safety issues it posed trying to move vehicles around to deal with the blaze.

"There was a huge smoke plume coming off it, which was drifting down the terraced streets next to the building, large numbers of members of the public had obviously come out of their houses and they were in middle of the smoke."

Normally they would rely on the knowledge of local fire crews to work out the best way to access a scene in a built-up place, he said, but on that afternoon, the first to arrive were not from the area, as Crewe firefighters were on a training course.

Firefighters were at the scene of the blaze for several days

The investigation into the cause of the fire began the next day, and Mr Hallworth described the "frustration" of discovering it was arson.

It tied up fire, police and ambulance crews for an awfully long time, and affected their availability to respond to other incidents, the station manager said.

Councillor Dawn Clark - who was then Crewe's mayor - first heard about the fire on social media, and headed to the town's lifestyle centre, which became the official evacuation centre.

"For me, it was how the community came together and supported each other," said the councillor, who stayed at the centre until 23:00 and was back to help at 08:00 the next morning.

"There was nobody kicking off, they all knew it was not safe from them to go home," she said, describing how local businesses provided food, and the emergency services kept people regularly updated.

Dawn Clark, who was mayor of Crewe at the time of the fire, said the community rallied together

Up to 50 people stayed overnight at the centre, with the British Red Cross helping staff it.

Following the fire, she said as mayor she had been in a "privileged position" to thank all those that helped, from providing comfort and food, through to construction companies who helped with the clear-up.

"Even though we don't get these fires very often, we do train for these major incidents", Mr Hallworth said, adding it was good to know it worked when put into practice.

The site, on the corner of Catherine Street and Frances Street, was cleared following the blaze, with permission recently granted for the land to be turned into a self-storage facility.