Fire at former leisure centre treated as arson

Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre has been vacant since 2015

A fire at a derelict leisure centre in Londonderry is being treated as arson, the police have said.

The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) said the fire at the former Lisnagelvin leisure centre in the Waterside on Thursday is believed to have been started deliberately.

A local councillor told BBC News NI that young people had repeatedly been breaking into the site and children had been seen going into the building on the morning of the fire.

The local council, which owns the site, has now pledged to work with statutory agencies to re-secure the site.

In 2021 a decision to sell the former leisure centre building fell through

The police said neighbourhood officers on patrol saw a large plume of smoke coming from the roof of the vacant building in the Waterside on Thursday afternoon and immediately contacted the NIFRS.

Five fire appliances attended and extinguished the blaze.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used one jet to extinguish the fire.

The incident was dealt with by 17:58 BST and the scene was later handed over to Derry City and Strabane District Council.

Included in the damage as a result of the blaze was equipment inside the building.

'Easily become trapped and disoriented'

NIFRS assistant group commander Peter Melarkey said crews worked tirelessly in difficult conditions to put the fire out.

“This was very serious, especially if there were people inside the building during the fire,” he said.

“Anyone in there without the proper respiratory protection would be at great risk from smoke inhalation.

“There are also so many risks associated with someone being inside a derelict building they are not familiar with.

NIFRS assistant group commander Peter Melarkey urged people not to enter derelict buildings

The senior firefighter appealed to people not to go into derelict buildings.

“There are so many trip hazards, like ledges that people can step off unwittingly, as well as the dangers of someone setting a fire because they can easily become trapped and disoriented,” Mr Melarkey said.

"These places are boarded up for a reason," he added.

Previous anti-social behaviour

The leisure centre, which opened in 1980, closed in 2015 and has been derelict ever since.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle's North West Today programme on Friday, DUP councillor Niree McMorris said young people had been repeatedly breaking into the site, especially at this time of year.

She said that on the morning of the fire, she had reported to the council that children as young as nine had been seen going into the building.

"Then, when I heard there was a fire later that day I was obviously very concerned that there could still be children in there, but thankfully that didn't prove to be the case," she said.

Ms McMorris said some residents near the former leisure complex had previously raised concerns with her about anti-social behaviour, including young people taking drugs, at the site.

The councillor said she would be meeting the police on Friday to fully assess the damage.

She understands the fire caused some damage to the roof.

Ms McMorris said the building needs to be redeveloped and said giving it a new lease of life would be beneficial for the wider area.

Niree McMorris says redeveloping the site would be beneficial for the wider area

DCSDC confirmed it was made aware of a fire at the vacant site of the former Lisnagelvin Leisure Centre on Thursday afternoon.

A spokesperson said the council would continue to work with the relevant statutory agencies and would put into place plans to re-secure the site.

Police are appealing to anyone with information, or who was in the area at the time of the fire, to contact them.