Police treat flat fire as ‘suspicious’
A Gosport flat fire that led to four people being taken to hospital is being treated as ‘suspicious’, police said.
ThefireeruptedatSomerset Court before burning through the stairwell and into the roof at around 12.30am yesterday morning. Firefighters and police remained at the scene nine hours on from when the fire started as enquiries into the incident continue. No arrests hadbeenmadewhenTheNews went to press.
Four people were taken to hospital for burns, smoke inhalation and as a precaution. Four dogs and three cats were alsorescuedfromtheblaze.The FireInvestigationteamandBritish Red Cross also remained at the scene for several hours.
Ten fire pumps attended from Cosham, Fareham, Gosport, Havant , Portchester and Southsea.Breathingapparatus, jets,ventilationfansandanaerialladderplatformwereusedto tackle the incident.
Police confirmed to The News that they are treating the blaze as suspicious with an investigation launched.
A police spokesman said: ‘The fire is being treated as suspicious, and police remain on scene making enquiries with the fire service. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact police on 101, quoting 44230182829.’
A statement from the fire service added: ‘No cause has been established as of yet, but Fire Investigators will attend the scene. A number of flats have suffered damage in the blaze, with affected residents being temporarily rehoused in a nearby hotel.
‘Around60firefighterswere on the scene at the height of the incident. The incident is scalingdownwithremainingcrews damping down hot spots.’