Residents evacuated after blaze

Sep 24 2008

Some 250 people whose homes were evacuated after a multi-million pound shopping centre development caught fire, detonating several gas canisters, are hoping to be allowed back to their properties.

Flames of 50ft caused by exploding cylinders stunned shoppers near the building site of the £360m SouthGate retail development in Bath on Monday evening.

Up to 10 canisters remained in a potentially dangerous state overnight and people living in nine streets within a 150-metre exclusion zone were moved to safe havens.

The cylinders ignited after fire broke out on the third - and highest - storey of Block B just before 5pm.

The inferno at the development which will eventually boast 56 shops such as H&M, began when a tar heater used for asphalting caught light.

Avon Fire and Rescue service spokesman James Bladon said the fire was extinguished within an hour but cylinders still in the building need cooling with jets.

Mr Bladon said: "Cosmetically, there hasn't been any sort of mass explosions outside the building site. They were all within the building. Structurally there are no concerns for the building."

The Health and Safety executive has been informed.

The fire did not spread beyond the shell of the block, which is under construction, and did not affect other parts of the development.

Immediately after the explosions, staff were seen running from a branch of Halifax and a nearby McDonald's was also cleared as a plume of smoke hung above the historic Spa town.