Fire crews deal with blaze at six-storey building in Kettering town centre

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service was called to reports of a fire at a six-storey building at Dalkeith Place, Kettering, shortly before 7.30pm on Friday evening (July 26).

Crews were immediately dispatched to the incident and discovered smoke issuing from the roof space of the building, which was under construction.

The Fire Service requested the attendance of Northamptonshire Police to assist in traffic management, and East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) were also called to the scene.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus entered the building and carried out a search and found no casualties. They then used hose reel jets to douse the flames, which had engulfed several solar panels on the roof.

By 10pm, the fire had been extinguished and crews were able to carry out an initial investigation. It was determined that the most likely cause of the fire was due to an electrical fault with one of the solar panels.

At the height of the incident, seven appliances were on scene dealing with the fire. Crews from Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, Irthlingborough and Moulton all attended, and had all returned to their respective stations by 11pm.

The Fire Service briefly returned on Saturday morning (July 27) to carry out a thermal scan of the building and identified no further hotspots, before handing the scene over to the site owner.

Chief Fire Officer Nikki Watson said: “This was a fire in a high-profile area in Kettering town centre that would have also had an impact on the night-time economy, and we would like to thank residents and businesses for their patience and understanding while we dealt with this incident on Friday evening.

“The fire presented some difficult challenges to our firefighters in terms of the difficulty of access to the roof of a building under construction and covered in smoke – but also because fires involving solar panels can present a significant hazard risk to emergency responders.

“I want to thank all the crews who worked in challenging circumstances to put this fire out, and thankfully the incident passed without anyone coming to harm.”