An investigation into a fire which caused significant damage to a property in Preston is seeking to establish whether the building was occupied beforehand.

Crews rushed to the scene of a fire on Church Street on Tuesday (12 November) evening with police quickly closing roads and establishing a cordon.

A joint investigation into the cause is now underway with police also confirming they want to ensure the property is not occupied. During Thursday evening road closures were put back in place around part of Church Street.

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Preston City Council told Blog Preston that in the last 12 months work had been carried out on the building and findings by patrols reported to Lancashire Constabulary and Lancashire Fire & Rescue Service.

Supt Gary Crowe of Lancashire Police, said: “This was a major fire and there was a large multi-agency response to tackle it and deal with the aftermath.

“We are working closely with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service to investigate the cause of the fire, and that investigation is ongoing.

“Work is being done to make the site safe together with our partner agencies and also to reassure emergency services no people are present within the site.”

A spokesperson for Preston City Council said: “Enforcement action had been taken to secure the building by Housing Standards and was open to access last year.

“In the past 12 months, work has been carried out on the building and routine checks had been carried out by Street Safety patrols and findings reported to other agencies for their attention.”

If you have any information, please contact police on 101, quoting log 1197 of 12^th November 2024.

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