Newport church fire: Concerns were raised about nightclub
Media playback is unsupported on your deviceA huge fire gutted a 130-year-old church just days after safety concerns were raised about the derelict building where the blaze began.
The Grade-II listed Bethel Community Church on Stow Hill in Newport was destroyed after a fire spread from a neighbouring derelict nightclub.
Some 95 firefighters and officers were at the scene on Friday and crews were still dealing with the smouldering buildings on Saturday.
No-one is thought to have been hurt.
But it has emerged that worries about the state of the former nightclub's building had been raised.
Newport Conservatives said they emailed the local council on 7 June calling for the former Zanzibar and Heights 2000 club to be inspected due to "fear this could collapse or end up going up in flames."
Newport council has been asked to comment.
The authority carried out an "enforcement inspection" but the local Tory group want an investigation into why the council did not carry out a "full site inspection" as they claim officers did not enter the building.
"There were quite a few concerns about the state of the building," said Newport Conservative activist Michael Enea, who emailed the council after worried residents contacted him.
The issues were highlighted after a video appeared online of people walking around the derelict building, which is full of debris and loose wires.
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@southwalesargus Flames engulfing the roof of the Bethel Community church on Stow Hill. #fire #Newport pic.twitter.com/N1286RJcDu
— Elliot Edwards (@Elliot__Edwards) June 15, 2018
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"The roof had totally collapsed and caved in, the building was totally derelict," added Mr Enea.
The blaze broke out in the former nightclub, which was most recently called Escapade, and spread to the church, with the fire service receiving dozens of 999 calls just after 18:15 BST on Friday.
Crews from Cardiff helped their Newport colleagues tackle the blaze as 19 appliances, including 10 fire engines, were used.
About 40 people were evacuated from the area and those residents are still "displaced" mostly at Newport Centre, a leisure centre in the heart of the city.
Fire officers are now "gearing up" to begin a joint investigation with Gwent Police and Newport council into the cause of the blaze.
The church's pastor, Andrew Cleverly, said it was "a traumatic scene" and added: "Our building may be gone, but the church is alive.
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Wow thank you Ben how kind of you, I’ve a little tear in my eye over such kindness to our crews, really appreciated https://t.co/qLPMPCBGFA
— Jennie Griffiths 🏴 (@GriffithsJECtrl) June 15, 2018
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"The church building is completely razed to the ground, it's just four walls left. It was very sad - a lot of people were upset, holding hands and crying - there was absolutely nothing you could do."
Two crews were still at the scene on Saturday "dampening down hotspots" in the church.
"There is extensive damage to both the church and the nightclub," said David Bents, of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
"We have high walls, debris sitting on high walls and ledges which causes danger to the public - so cordons are still in place."
A cordon on Stow Hill and North Street remains around the church and former nightclub and fire crews are expected to remain on the scene for most of Saturday.
Stagecoach Wales tweeted that the road expected to remain closed for much of Saturday and would affect some of its services.
Welsh Water sent tankers to the scene on Friday to ease the demand on the water supply.
A spokeswoman said: "As the fire is still ongoing, some customers in the Stow Hill area may notice a drop in water pressure or discoloured water. We have sent text messages to those who may be affected."
