Incident at The Heath

Fire severely damaged a laboratory block at The Heath Business and Technical Park at Runcorn, Cheshire, in the early hours of Sunday morning. No one was injured in the blaze at the award-winning science park owned and operated by SOG Ltd.

SOG’s security personnel raised the alarm shortly after midnight when smoke and flames were spotted in one of the laboratory buildings on the 50-acre site. Ten fire crews from across the region tackled the fire which destroyed the top floor of the three-story, 30-meter by 10-metre block and seriously damaged the second floor.

SOG Director John Lewis said fire offices praised the company for its swift response to the incident and for emergency procedures that were implemented which helped firemen to contain the blaze and prevent it spreading to neighbouring buildings.

Mr Lewis said: ‘This is a very serious incident but the most important thing is that no-one has been hurt. Our emergency procedures kicked in immediately the fire was discovered. We were able to advise fire officers of any hazardous materials contained in the laboratory block to ensure they had all the information necessary to tackle the blaze with out putting fire crews at unnecessary risk”.

The laboratory block housed several different scientific companies carrying out research and development projects at The Heath.

Mr Lewis added: “SOG has launched an investigation into the cause of the fire and the company will be assessing the extent of the damage over the next 24 hours. It is too early at this stage to give any further details but the fire services have paid tribute to the emergency procedures SOG has in place which helped to avert a far worse disaster.”

For further information of this incident please contact Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service.