Christmas stock destroyed in mystery city centre blaze

CHRISTMAS stock worth thousands of pounds was destroyed in a major fire in Belfast city centre early yesterday morning. Over 120 firefighters were deployed to tackle the outbreak in Queen's Building in Royal Avenue which the service said was one of the worst they had to deal with in the city in recent years. No one was in the building when the fire broke out overnight. A whole stretch of the main shopping district was closed amid frantic efforts to bring the blaze under control. As forensic experts searched through the debris in a bid to discover the cause of the fire, the owners of surrounding business premises were left counting the cost. The fire is believed to have started in empty rooms on the top level. Fire crews from Belfast, Lisburn, Newtownards and as far away as Portadown were drafted in to deal with the emergency and prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby Castle Court shopping complex. Fire crews equipped with breathing equipment had to wait nearly 10 hours before going into the building amid fears that floors could collapse. But the four-storey building containing Waterstone's bookstore, Goldsmith's jewellery outlet and the Northern bureau of the Press Association was severely damaged. Fire Service Assistant Senior Divisional Commander Chris Kerr said around 25pc of the second floor, 50pc of the third floor and the entire fourth floor as well as the roof structure had been destroyed. The Press Association's Ireland editor Deric Henderson said he believed the fire started at the rear of the building in the Berry Street area. "We are the only office on the fourth floor and they have been completely gutted. "There is extensive damage on the lower floors and on the ground floor where you have Waterstone's and Goldsmiths," he said. Mr Henderson said that the damage in his office had been devastating with files, computer equipment and personal effects destroyed. Journalists were moved to temporary accommodation in the neighbouring Belfast Telegraph newspaper. Waterstone's spokesperson Paula Fleming said the incident was very upsetting for the 25 staff employed in the bookstore. "It is a very bad time of the year for this to happen to us with the academic season and coming up to Christmas," she said. Ms Fleming said she imagined the water damage would have destroyed most if not all of their stock. Specialist surveyors assessed whether the building would survive the blaze. Rita Harkin, of the Ulster Architectural Heritage Society, said it would be a disaster if the building dating from 1883 did not survive. "It's critical to that townscape that it doesn't come down," she said. "That whole group of buildings form such an important part of Victorian planning and every effort has to be made to maintain as much of the fabric as possible." As the mopping-up operation continued throughout the morning, traffic was severely disrupted with motorists being advised not to enter the city centre. As businesses started to count the cost, fire chief Kevin Synnott revealed that a 124 crew members and 21 appliances were called in from stations across the North at the height of the emergency. Mr Synnott said: "It's been the biggest I can recall for years. They are still fighting the fire, and we had to limit the number of firefighters we sent in after a risk assessment." - Dominic Cunningham