AN electrical fault at a “professional cannabis farm” is believed to have caused the blaze which ripped through a three-storey restaurant building on Sankey Street, Warrington, yesterday, Tuesday.
Five fire engines attended at the former Efes restaurant at 6.20am with an aerial appliance, with firefighters in attendance for 14 hours 30 minutes.
On arrival, the crews found that a three-storey building was well alight.
Two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reel jets and one main jet to extinguish the flames.
The gas and electric supply to the building was isolated. The incident was also sectorised in order to tackle the fire.
An aerial appliance was used for firefighters to take thermal scans of the upper sections of the building. Road closures were put in place for most of the day.
Investigations into the cause of the fire has concluded it to be electrical, linked to a cannabis farm on the premises.
Enquiries in relation to who was responsible for the farm remain ongoing and officers are continuing to appeal for information that may aid their investigation.
Inspector Danny Haddock said: “This investigation is in its early stages and we are committed to doing all we can to establish who was responsible for the cannabis farm.
“The premises is located near to the junction of Sankey Street and Parker Street and as part of our enquiries we are keen to hear from anyone in the area who believes that they may have witnessed anything that didn’t look quite right in recent weeks or months.
“The same goes for anyone with any CCTV or dashcam footage which may aid our investigation.”
Anyone with any information in relation to the incident is asked to call Cheshire Police on 101, quoting IML 1133488 or give the details via https://www.cheshire.police.uk/ro/report
Alternatively, information can be reported anonymously, via Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.
Roads re-open after five fire crews tackle blaze at Efes restaurant
