Animals safe, cause confirmed after weekend fire at Ilkeston pet shop

As many as four fire crews including those from both borough stations were called to an Ilkeston pet-shop late on Saturday afternoon.

On arrival shortly after 4:30pm, firefighters found that an extensive fire had broken out on the first floor and in the roof void of the property in Bath Street but had also reached the ground floor.  Thick black smoke could be seen coming from the roof line. The owner and his family made an attempt to put out the fire before escaping. No animals were inside at the time.

Crews worked until around 7am on Sunday 10th October to put out the blaze and ensure that there were no hotspots.

A subsequent investigtion by Derbyshire Fire & Rescue Service concluded that the fire had been started accidentally.   A spokesperson said that the fire was due to a naked flame coming into contact with combustible materials.