Copthorne fire: 100 firefighters tackle blaze at Acorns Health and Leisure in Crawley

A West Sussex Fire & Rescue spokesperson said: “At 7.22am we were called to a fire at Acorns Health and Leisure in Copthorne Road, Crawley.”

At 8.25am WSFRS said crews from Crawley, Salfords, Reigate and Gosden were attending, as well as the aerial ladder from Horsham, water carriers from Burgess Hill and Petworth, the control unit from Haywards Heath and a high volume pump from East Sussex Fire and Rescue.

Copthorne Road was closed in both directions from Wyevale Garden Centre to Copthorne Hotel’s roundabout.

The fire service also urged people not to congregate at the incident and asked residents to keep windows and doors shut.

At 9.28am WSFRS said there were 10 pumps on scene, including ones from Hurstpierpoint, Leatherhead, Banstead and Steyning.

At 1.30pm area manager Dave Bray confirmed there were ‘14 fire engines and approximately 100 firefighters on scene’ and said the fire was at the swimming pool complex attached to the hotel.

“The building is fortunately remote so it’s not actually touching the main building,” he said, adding that crews had surrounded the blaze.

Dave said the fire did not spread to the main hotel complex and said firefighters used two aerial ladder platforms to fight it from above.

He said: “There have been no reports of injuries, no members of the public were involved.

“Firefighters have worked extremely hard in escalating ambient temperatures throughout the morning and the activities of the first attending crews were absolutely critical to the ongoing safety of this incident where they were able to remove chemicals associated with the swimming pool.”

At 5.28pm, the fire service said it would monitor the scene overnight.

Sussex Police are appealing for information.

A police spokesperson said: “There will be a police presence in the area for some time while investigating officers determine the cause of the fire and both West Sussex Fire & Rescue and Sussex police are advising people to avoid the area as the building remains unsafe.”

Call 101 quoting serial number 347 of 07/08.

A statement on Acorns’ website said: “Sadly our beloved Acorns Health & Leisure Club has been damaged in a fire and won’t be operational in the short term.”