Arundel fire station blaze - official report

The blaze ripped through the building on October 25 and left officials red-faced after they were forced to admit that no smoke alarms were fitted in the building as they were not a requirement when the building was first built.

An ambulance technician based at the station was the first to notice the fire on the morning of October 25 and immediately dialled 999.

The report states at around 10.45am, as she was watching television, the technician heard a loud "pop" from the direction of the appliance room and became aware of a strong smell of fumes and smoke in the room.

Following her 999 call, around 50 firefighters rushed to the scene, but there was little they could do to save the building which was, by then, engulfed in flames.

Now, a fire investigation report, released by the fire service, states the most likely area of the start of the fire was either in one of the fire engines where damaged wiring was found, or in a battery charging unit.

The unit had been fixed following problems just days before.

It said: "It is considered that the fire started accidentally in the area of the appliance crew cab, most likely from an electrical fault.

"For an electrical fault to occur and cause a fire, the circuit/apparatus must have been energised.

"It has been identified that a number of circuits are permanently energised, however, owing to the severity of the fire it was not possible to establish the precise cause of the fire."

The investigators concluded that despite not being able to pinpoint the original cause, there was "no evidence to suggest that the fire was the result of a deliberate act".

Speaking at the time, Arundel's station commander Mark Dunham described the burning station as a "terrible sight" and said that the whole crew were "devastated".

A fire service spokesman told the Gazette: "This just goes to show that these things can happen to anyone.

"It can happen to squatters, it happened to the Queen and now it has happened to us. It proves that everyone has to be vigilant."

Since the fire, West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service has installed smoke alarms in all its buildings.