Fire service admits: We had no smoke alarm

The devastating blaze destroyed most of the Ford Road station and its new fire engine, which was delivered only two weeks ago.

The alarm was raised at 10.48am by an ambulance service paramedic who was based at the fire station and spotted smoke coming from the garage area.

The absence of a smoke or fire alarm at the station will be an embarrassment for West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service,

which has had a long-running campaign to persuade residents to make sure they have working smoke alarms in their homes.

As a retained (part-time) station, Arundel is unattended between calls, often for lengthy periods, and had the paramedic not been there, the fire would have taken much more of a grip before the alarm was raised.

Gary Towson, spokesman for the fire and rescue service, confirmed there was no alarm. "The station was built in the 1960s and it wasn't required by building regulations at the time. They are fitted in all our new stations, because the regulations have changed.

"In any case, we think the fire started in the appliance bay, where an alarm would not be fitted because it would go off every time you started the engine.

"The fire station is like a small workplace, and we don't insist on alarms in small businesses.

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