Fire No. 2

Fire brigade arrive

Mid-way though incident. Smoke from second floor window. Ladder extending

Towards end of Fire. Several appliances in situ. Police cordon in place

An eventful bank holiday weekend yesterday with the farewell party for fellow blogger Alan W Collins leading to this blog witnessing a major fire on Rochester highstreet.

The incident itself was noticeable after a series of suspicious fires had been noted in Gravel Walk in Rochester, and apparently nearby properties according to KM. A second major fire in a small area is perhap a coincidence, but given this fire is seen as suspicious it is something we all need to keep a watching brief.

My involvement was very limited. After drinking in the Ship pub opposite, after attending the farewell party for Alan W Collins, was with a few friends when a man ran into the bar claiming the opposite Curry house was on fire. After leaving the pub it became apparent that the second floor of the empty restaurant was indeed alight; there was a signficant amount of smoke billowing from both floors and a small crowd was standing in the vicinity; many of whom speaking with the fire brigade and Police.

The fire brigade responded quickly, within 10 minutes, sending a number of appliances from Strood (later discovered) and proceeded to assess and then enter the building with oxygen equipment. A further number of appliances arrived and the Police proceeded to attend advising spectators to step back whilst the fire brigade engaged in their job. I was rapped on the knuckles by a young Police offier after being spotted trying to get a photo; for which apologised.

After tweeting the photos I was quickly followed by the Twitter feed of local politico's and the Kent Fire & Rescue twitter feed which kept residents updated with developments.

I spoke to several fire officers who indicated that this was seen as a suspicious incident because of the fact the building was not in use and the fact that a number of locations may have been identified as for being the start location.

Obviously Kent Police and Kent Fire & Rescue will advise but this is most certainly a public interest story.

The media responded very quickly indeed and were speaking to a number of witnesses and the Fire Brigade themselves. I suspect a number of less blurry shots will appear in the Messenger next week.

Will be keeping a watching brief on this development.