Fire crews tackled a big blaze at Burnham-On-Sea’s seafront pier on Thursday that caused damage to the back of the building.
Firefighters were initially called to the historic Pavilion at around 12.30pm after smoke and flames were seen billowing from the rear of the building in a storage area.
Crews were quickly on scene, tackling the blaze with water jets, but high winds spread the fire to part of the back dome of the pier.
The fire was extinguished by around 1.30pm by multiple crews from Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service and Avon Fire and Rescue Service. No staff or customers inside the Pavilion were hurt.
Hundreds of people stood on the beach and the seafront, being kept at a safe distance by the emergency services.
Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service issued the following report: “At 12.30pm, fire appliances attended a developed fire on the pier, following multiple calls from members of the public. A request was made for a further three appliances, along with the incident command unit.”
“The fire involved a single storey building used as an amusement arcade. Four breathing apparatus, one hose reel jet and two main jets were in use.”
The report continued: “At 1.36pm, a further three appliances were requested for breathing apparatus. Also, Avon Fire and Rescue Service sent Weston-super-Mare with their turntable ladder to support the incident. Crews added an additional hose reel jet, fogspike and triple extension ladder to the equipment in use at the scene.”
“At 2.16pm, crews began stripping external flashing to gain access to the fire in the wall cavity, and damp down hot spots. Western Power were requested to isolate the electricity.”
The crews’ progress was shown live on Burnham-On-Sea.com’s seafront webcam which showed the fire starting at 12.29pm.
Opened just before World War One, the Pavilion was taken over by new owners in 2017, having been family-owned for nearly 50 years. Read more about its history.
