Hailsham: Fire grips business

Thirty firefighters from across East Sussex spent more than an hour tackling the blaze at World of Water in Ersham Road.

They were called out at 4.20pm and crews from Hailsham, Eastbourne, Pevensey, Uckfield and Bexhill were drafted in to tackle the blaze, which could be seen for miles.

An eye witness told the Express: There were about five fire engines at the scene. The fire was really, really bad.

From just 30yds, the searing heat was unbearable. There was bellowing black smoke and it appeared that the whole of the southern side of World of Water was alight.

The extent of the fire was devastating. The flames were about 30ft high and they were just ripping through the glass roof. There was just utter devastation.

Luckily no serious injuries were reported although a small percentage of the branch s total fish stock was destroyed in the blaze.

A company statement said: Once the fire was extinguished, staff worked throughout the night to rescue all living livestock which they successfully transferred to another branch.

Fire broke out in an outside storage shed and spread quickly to the main building. It is not known yet how the fire started but it caused severe damage to the main building.

A spokesman for the fire brigade said: Our fire investigation team are investigating the cause of the fire. As yet they have not reported their findings but we do not believe there was anything sinister. It is most likely that this was an accident.

Road diversions were also put in place by Polegate Traffic Police for about two hours, which caused rush hour chaos.

World of Water is expected to be closed until Monday, although some smoked damaged departments could remain out of bounds for longer.

Published: 5.7.01 Sussex Newspapers Ltd