Carmageddon
1,600 vehicles are destroyed in New Year inferno
THESE were the terrifying New Year’s Eve scenes after a ferocious fire ripped through a multistorey car park, incinerating up to 1,600 vehicles.
Smoke filled the night sky above Liverpool’s waterfront as motorists abandoned their cars and fled. Amazingly, no one was hurt in the fire.
Around 80 horses, stabled in the basement of the building as part of the Liverpool International Horse Show in the neighbouring the Echo Arena, had to be led to safety. The event was cancelled. Nearby apartments and hotels were evacuated as 12 fire engines were scrambled.
The 1,000C blaze, which broke out on Sunday afternoon and quickly engulfed all seven floors of the ten-year- old car park, was witnessed by the former England footballer Mark Wright and his wife Sue.
They saw an ‘old’ Land Rover go up in flames. This may have been the source of the blaze. Former Liverpool captain Wright, who had been attending the horse show, said he thought a simple extinguisher would have put out the Land Rover but he was unable to find one. Mrs Wright said: The flames ‘ were just shooting out of the engine and coming past the tyres. It looked like a ball of fire on the front of the car and it was producing a lot of smoke.’ She said she and her family ‘just left everything in the own car car handbags, telephone, ‘ cash – and just went.’ French show jumper Daniel Delsart, who helped to evacuate some of the horses, said: The ‘ smoke was getting worse and worse and the horses were pretty alarmed with all the fire engine sirens and bangs from cars exploding.’ A family attending the horse show were blocked from boarding their Virgin train home after they were evacuated from a neighbouring hotel and left their tickets in their room. Joanne Gubb, from London, tweeted that she had proof of purchase but the company was slow to offer any help, telling her they would have to buy another ticket. She later confirmed that Virgin staff met the family at the station and booked them on another train.
After an appeal for help, around 200 people offered lifts home to those left stranded, while around ten spent the night in a temporary shelter.
Among those who lost their car and valuables was Leanne Simpson, 33, who had travelled from Anglesey for the show with her partner and their four children. Their two- month- old £52,000 Land Rover Discovery Sport for which they’d saved for four years was destroyed, along with their Christmas presents.
As Merseyside fire chief Dan Stephens said the blaze could have been brought under control had sprinklers been fitted, it emerged that a 2010 Government report had backed their installation in multi-storey car parks because fires in modern vehicles can spread so rapidly. However, building regulations were not changed.
The building is collapsing inside and been declared unsafe. Liverpool council said the car park had ‘met all safety requirements’ before the fire.