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SPECIAL PHOTO REPORT -
FIRE AT THE CROWN INN 2003
One of the largest events in the village for many years and with the immanent reopening of the
Crown Inn we though you might like a reminder of events on the Summer's day more
than 6 years ago...
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1st. July 2003 |
| Fire seriously damaged the Crown Inn during the afternoon of
July 1st. 2003. It was hoped that the pub would be back as one of the centres of
village life before too long. As villagers will know The Crown Garage was right
beside the pub. Had the lightning struck just a few feet over then the heart of
the village might have been torn out. Fortunately the petrol was stored safely,
and the tanks are now large lumps of concrete for archaeologists to mull over in
a few thousand years.
Nobody was hurt in the fire, but what a mess, and how long it lasted.... |
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The morning after; the entire roof has collapsed. |
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A new outbreak late in the afternoon.
To the right is the Crown Garage where
hundreds of gallons of petrol were stored.
If these had exploded the heart
of the village would have been torn out! |
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Another view and one of the last views of the Crown Inn
before the scaffolding went up. |
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Meridian TV broadcast live from the scene (eventually).
A football match in Maidstone took precedence so they didn't get their satellite
truck into the village until the following morning when they
had several live news reports from the scene. The photo was taken at lunchtime
while the crew were in the Green Man!
Had broadband been available in the village
pictures would have been on TV the same evening!
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Firemen's ladders at the back of the building where
staff property was removed through the back windows. |
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At the height of the blaze there were
more than 70 fire-fighters in attendance |
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One of the seventeen different fire appliances which raced
to the village from all over Sussex.. |
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Emergency water supplies had to be provided.
This is part of the decontamination unit which would
have been used if petrol had escaped.
Fortunately for us all it was very safely stored
so this equipment was not needed. |
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One of the extra water tankers
- all the way from Chichester.
We wouldn't fancy driving that fully laden
down our local rural lanes! |
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A view from the rear car park.
The fire engine is passing between the pub
(to the right) and the garage (on the left)
where hundreds of gallons of petrol were stored.
Also shown is the actual power pole which was
hit by lightning. This carried across the wires to the right
and straight into the pub.
The bang could be heard half a mile away! |
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Local roads were closed as far as the Martindale Centre. |
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The West Sussex Fire Brigade declared a major incident. |
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5th October 2003 |
Then the Crown was bought by the owners of The
Ravenswood....
