Sherford fire: arson inquiry is launched

AN arson investigation has been launched after a fire broke out in the middle of the night at a block of flats, endangering the lives of 30 people. Emergency services were called at around 2.20pm on Friday (September 19) after a fire broke out in the stairwell of a four-storey block of flats on Aquila Drive in Sherford.

- By MOLLY SEAMAN

The fire is believed to have been started deliberately. Devon and Cornwall Police said an accelerant is believed to have been used in the communal entrance before a fire was started, which quickly spread to the stairwell.

A total of 28 people were trapped in their homes and had to be rescued by firefighters. South West Ambulance Service said 10 people were taken to hospital.

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASET) said: “We were called at 02:27hrs on Friday 19 September to a building fire in Sherford. We sent six double-crewed land ambulances, three operations officers, a doctor, a first responder and a hazardous area response team to the scene.

“We conveyed eight patients by land ambulances to Derriford Hospital and two patients by land ambulance to Torbay Hospital”

Around 20% of the building was damaged by the fire and the rest of the building suffered smoke damage. A scene guard was put in place as an investigation into the cause was carried out.