21 Aug 2012
A fast-food restaurant in Lancashire was burned to the ground after a fire broke out in Accrington.
Families were forced from their nearby homes after the inferno swept through the Sahad restaurant on Blackburn Road on the night of 15 August.
Firefighters attended the terraced property after the blaze started in a flue canopy on the first floor of the shop before engulfing the premises and one of the neighbouring properties.
The flames could reportedly be seen from as far away as Burnley, more than seven miles down the M65.
Inspector Graham Ashcroft told the Lancashire Telegraph: “Fire investigators have already started work but we believe it started accidentally.”
The same takeaway experienced another setback last month when a large section of its outside wall collapsed onto the street, forcing Blackburn Road to be temporarily closed.
It remains to be seen whether or not a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment had been conducted on the premises, in accordance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
Copyright Press Association 2012