A fire which took over a derelict bingo hall in Essex recently has now been confirmed as an arson attack. The former Gala Bingo hall in Pitsea, Essex, saw six fire engines, an aerial ladder platform, at least ten police cars and a hazardous area response team attend the blaze on September 3rd, as fears took hold over the possibility of deadly asbestos particles being carried through the air.
Hereigns Events Management Ltd, the leaseholders of the building have come under attack by councillors who claim they failed to keep the site in a decent condition before the attack. One of those councillors is Conservative, Luke Mackenzie; “I hope the police and fire service put in a full investigation. I think it’s very concerning that it was arson, we’ve been warning about the fire risk. I think the owner needs to take a long hard look at themselves and they are pretty shameless to have let it get into this mess.”
A spokesman for the Essex Fire Service said: “We are treating a fire at a derelict building in High Road, Pitsea, on Tuesday September 3, as deliberate. We were called by Essex County Fire and Rescue Service at around 3.10pm before we assisted our emergency partners as they dealt with the fire. The building was empty at the time. Anyone with information is asked to call Basildon police station on 101 quoting incident 608 of 03/09 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.”
Adding Fuel to the Fire:
Residents are furious that this could happen and have slammed the mindless thugs who took to torching the building. Linda Cross from the area said: “I think it’s disgusting that people feel they can do this. I hope the police catch who did this, we can’t have this sort of thing and don’t want it happening.”
It’s still unknown whether the building was cladded with asbestos but many fear that it was. Both councillors and residents have requested clarification on whether asbestos was a feature of the former bingo hall or not, but Basildon Council told local press that they have no reason to suspect there was at this stage. It’s probably best not to speculate at this point.
The council has taken pen to paper and sent a letter to the site owner threatening action unless they do not clean up the site. It’s been three weeks since the fire hit he news and both Hereigns Events Management Ltd and Umar Hussain – the landlord of the building, are still yet to comment or clean up the devastation due to the arson attack.
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