Video: County Council leader Kay Cutts on what will happen next after the Arnold fire
A local authority leader has said ‘we should’ve done something about the building sooner’ about the Arnold building which caught fire.
The building was due to be demolished in October after a Demolition Order was passed through Nottinghamshire County Council.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Tweeted at 4.40pm on Wednesday (August 16) a fire had broke out at the former council office site on Rolleston Drive.
30 firefighters from crews from Arnold, Carlton and Stockhill were sent to deal with the blaze.
Roads were closed in the surrounding areas yesterday evening while the blaze was tackled.
The fire was scaled down by the evening and was fully extinguished overnight with firefighters remaining in attendance to tackle any hotspots.
The fire service have Tweeted that an investigation into the incident is now underway.
And Conservative County Council leader Kay Cutts wanted the building to be demolished sooner than October.
Cllr Cutts said: “I’ve been to look at site with the police officer in charge and the fire officer in charge – I’ve only been allowed onto the perimeter because the site is still unsafe.
“Once they have finished their investigations, whatever that throws up, then the County Council will take steps to demolish it.
“We did have a plan to demolish it on October 10 and we should try to bring this forward as soon as possible.
“I know that people around here won’t want to live with this derelict site and we should have something about it sooner in my view.”
Cllr Cutts said all that remains is a ‘mass of twisted metal’ after being allowed to survey the perimeter of the building.
She said: “The fire was a very very hot one I understand and it was helped by a wind in the direction which blew it towards the premises.
“I understand they made a fire break which is what the intention was so it was kept well away from people’s homes.
“Most of the fire was doused down very quickly – it was smouldering for a little while but they managed to contain it well within the heart of the site.”
