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Picture: Victor Tullin

INVESTIGATIONS are continuing into the cause of a major fire which destroyed a furniture store in Penryn last week.

Over 80 firefighters from across Cornwall attended the blaze which ripped through Christies furniture store in Commercial Road last Tuesday (March 18).

Eyewitnesses described how flames leapt 25 feet into the air at the height of the blaze with around 300 people gathering to watch the fire which could be seen from all over Penryn.

Two members of staff were also caught up in the fire but escaped from a flat above the store soon after the fire crews arrived. One of them was taken to hospital, suffering the effects of smoke inhalation.

This week police have said they are still looking into the cause of the fire. PC Baxter Provan of Devon and Cornwall Police said: "There is an ongoing investigation by the police into the fire at Christies. The exact cause of the fire is still unknown. At this stage there is no evidence to suggest that it was anything other than accidental and it could have been caused by faulty electrical equipment but this has as yet not been confirmed. A detailed report is being compiled."

On the night of the fire ten pumping appliances, the aerial ladder platforms from Truro and Newquay, the high volume pump and hose layer from Newquay, the command support vehicle from Truro and the operational support vehicles from Falmouth and St Austell went to the scene. The ten pumps are from Falmouth, Redruth, Truro, Helston, Camborne, St Keverne, Perranporth and Mullion.

The RNLI inshore lifeboat from Falmouth was also requested just after 2am to provide safety cover for the firefighters working on the water's edge. Water was being pumped from the Penryn River on the rising tide, to add to the water supplies being pumped from nearby fire hydrants.

A cordon was set up and the crowd were told to move back over fears that oxygen cylinders would explode in a diving centre next door and concerns about asbestos pollution.

Picture: David Brenchley

Eyewitness Carolyn Hartley of Prospect House guest house said that at one point the flames leapt up to 25 feet into the air.

"I was in my house and at first all I heard was lots of popping noises at about midnight sounding like a car getting closer and closer.

"I went outside and there were just one or two people looking on. There were no fire engines at that time. I could just see a lot of smoke and flame just going 25 feet into the air, then a fire engine arrived from the Falmouth end and then another from the Truro end.

"By this time a lot of people had gathered but I felt they were just in the way of the fire brigade trying to do their job and get on with trying to put out the fire. People were just standing there until they told them to stand back because of the dangers of the oxygen cylinders exploding and asbestos."

The next morning investigators in white suits with dogs were searching through the wreckage of the burnt out shell of the building in Commercial Road. The main part of the store did not appear to badly damaged but the warehouse was destroyed.

There was some indication that the two members of staff who were caught in the fire were staying in a flat above the warehouse but this week Peter Blell, managing director denied the rumour.

He said: "The two people upstairs in the rooms were working late. There is a canteen area upstairs which is why they were upstairs at the time of the fire. It is not used as a flat.

"The warehouse was not recognised as a fire hazard before the fire. It had a recent electrical safety certificate and the fire officers signed it off as safe recently."

Mr Blell also assured customers that they would still get the goods that they had ordered prior to the blaze.

9:24am Wednesday 26th March 2008

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