User:Macker62

Chase Web Offset Ltd Fire, Plymouth, UK.

Chase Web Offset Ltd was a magazine printing company based at Estover Industrial Estate, Plymouth, UK. It employed around 300 workers. The company was taken over by St. Ives Group after the disaster and now Wyndeham Press Group. The original building was destroyed leaving only the concrete front standing. New premises were built and located at Langage Industrial Estate, Plympton, Plymouth, UK.

The Fire

On Saturday 13th June 1987, workers attended the factory on overtime at 7am. During the morning 3 contractors started welding at the rear of the building on the right hand side. Many employees had noticed that sparks from the welding equipment were hitting rolls of paper, as the welders were not using safety screens. Nothing was reported to management and production continued until around 10:45am. A small fire was spotted in the same area where the welders had been working. The fire alarms hadn’t sounded because they’d been turned off due to forklift masts interrupting the beam of light, setting off the alarms. A few of the printers who had spotted the fire, grabbed a hose reel and unwound it whilst running towards the fire. Unfortunately, because the area where the fire had started was part of a new extension to the rear of the building, the hose reel could not reach the fire. One employee had the sense to shut off the gas supply, which saved many lives. Screams and shouting from the employees alerted others who were unaware of the horror unfolding. Witnesses saw one employee, Mr Angelo Katsianis, run to the offices at the left hand side, rear of the building in order to phone the Fire Brigade. Within seconds, the fire had swept across the rear wall of the building and thick toxic smoke rose quickly into the air (around 30 ft high). Gas that was left in the pipe work exploded while some employees where still in the building, causing fire and smoke to increase in intensity and speed. Windows that had been left open near the roof of the building also increased the danger. As the steel work and roof started to collapse, workers were still seen running from the building. Many suffered burns and damage to their lungs from smoke inhalation