St Leonards blaze: Factory building ‘reduced to a twisted and buckled pile’

Drallim Industries factory, Drury Lane, St Leonards, was destroyed by fire. Photo courtesy of Councillor Phil Scott. SUS-191102-105753001

Hastings Borough and East Sussex County Councillor Phil Scott, who is also a member of the East Sussex Fire Authority, visited Drallim Industries’ factory on Sunday morning (February 10) after the devastating fire the night before.

He said: “I attended the site yesterday morning (Sunday) with and at the invitation of the Deputy Chief Fire Officer, Mark O’ Brien, I was totally shocked to see this huge pre-fabricated building in parts at the rear reduced to a twisted and buckled pile, the front of the building also having suffered extensive fire and smoke damage along with a number of vehicles in the car park that had suffered minor heat damage.

“Following on from the site visit I then met with the owner and employees who had gathered together, to offer them my immediate thoughts, all clearly were very shocked at what they saw before them. With the livelihoods of 47 employees affected, this for most is going to be an extremely difficult time, I offered them any support I could as local and East Sussex County Councillor.

“Hastings has had its fair share of major fire incidents in recent years, The Marlborough, the Pier and now the loss of this large engineering works, along with many jobs affecting individuals and families.

“Thankfully there was no one on site and therefore no injuries to anyone. I’d like to thank, as always, our firefighters who are our extremely professional first responders and who as always put themselves and our community at the fore of everything they do at great personal risk.”