Avon Fire and Rescue have this morning (Monday, August 5) confirmed that a huge blaze at a disused care home near Weston-super-Mare on Friday, August 2, is thought to have been started deliberately.
Crews from Weston, Clevedon, Yatton, Kingswood, Patchway, and Temple fire stations were called to the property in Court Road, Kewstoke shortly after 9am on Friday morning, to find
Upon arrival, firefighters discovered that a fire on the ground floor had already spread to the roof.
Eight firefighters wearing breathing apparatus were sent into the building to tackle the blaze, however were quickly withdrawn after a partial collapse of the roof.
Crews continued to tackle the fire from the outside, using a turntable ladder, four 45mm jets, and two high pressure hose reels.
A thermal imaging camera was used to check the gutted structure for hotspots, and Avon and Somerset Constabulary officers on the scene confirmed that nobody had been in the building and there were no casualties.
The fire service's investigation dog was deployed to search the property for a cause of the fire, however a spokesperson for the service said there 'was no positive identification of fuel'.
Despite this, the spokesperson confirmed that the cause was believed by firefighters to be deliberate.
Some residents in Kewstoke faced disruption to their water supply as the incident was dealt with, with Bristol water advising customers that their water pressure was likely to have dropped and the output itself discoloured.
Weston-super-Mare Fire Station tweeted at 2.40pm on Friday afternoon to state that the incident had been dealt with, following a huge team effort to quell the 'well developed fire'.
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