Youngsters flee from fire in Petersfield youth centre
Youngsters had to flee from a youth centre in Petersfield after a devastating fire broke out in the building.
The blaze started shortly before 1pm today (Saturday) in a locked office inside the King's Arms Youth Project, which is based in one of the courtyard buildings off Heath Road – next to the Festival Hall car park in the town centre.
Three youth workers led the 12 youngsters who were inside the building at the time to safety before trying to tackle the blaze with a fire extinguisher.
However, after the fire took hold they also had to evacuate the building as the blaze became too big for them to tackle.
Two fire engines from Petersfield raced to the scene to try and bring the flames under control but due to the heat and dense smoke inside they were only able to tackle the fire from outside the building.
A total of 35 firefighters attended the scene – the crews from Petersfield were joined by their colleagues from Liphook and Horndean and an aerial ladder was sent from Basingstoke.
Manager of the centre, Bill Pearce, was full of praise for the three youth assistants who ensured the building was safely cleared – these were Calvin Boyd, Alex Errey and Imogen Jupp.
He said: "I had a call to say there was a fire in the centre and as I was driving here I could see black smoke coming from the building.
"When I came around the corner I could then see flames coming out of one of the windows.
"I'm delighted that my three workers managed to get everyone out safely and it showed that their training had worked well.
"There is a lot of damage inside – a lot of heat and smoke damage – and this is going to force us to close here for five or six months."
The offices of the Petersfield Christian Fellowship and upholstery business House of Dragonfly, which are situated on the ground floor of the building, suffered some water damage following the efforts of firefighters to bring the blaze on the first floor under control.
An investigation into the cause of the fire is now under way and the scene was visited by a fire investigation officer from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service and forensic evidence was gathered by a scenes of crime officer from Hampshire Police.
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Weather for Chichester
Wednesday 30 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 21 mph
Wind direction: South west
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 13 C to 19 C
Wind Speed: 25 mph
Wind direction: West
