Off Topic Lord Line building

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FIRE has ripped through the Lord Line building on St Andrew's Dock in west Hull.
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service was called to the scene at St Andrew's quay at about 9.30pm on Wednesday.

At its height, 22 firefighters, four engines and an aerial platform were involved in tackling the blaze.

No one is believed to have been inside the building and there are no reports of injuries.

It is believed the fire may have been caused deliberately.

Crews from Central, West Hull and Brough fire stations were involved in tackling the blaze.

Station manager Tony Bolder said "When we arrived, there was a lot of smoke. I did not want to put firefighters inside the building. We have lots of obstructions in there.

"It was far safer to fight the fire from outside, so we let it burn through the boarding at the front of the building, so it would open it up, enabling us to get hoses through inside."

Mr Bolder said the structure of the building is not believed to have been badly damaged.

He said: "It is quite a substantial building and the fire was out in under an hour, so I am not unduly concerned about the damage."

Katie Wilkinson, 23, of Hessle, went to the scene after learning of the fire.

She said: "I am a student at Hull School of Art and Design in the third year of my degree in fine art. I was focusing on the Lord Line building. I saw the building was on fire and came down. It's staggering. There is so much history. A lot of people's heritage is linked to this building."

The iconic symbol of Hull's fishing industry has stood derelict since the 1970s.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Lord...tory-26633026-detail/story.html#ixzz3c5GTEWDb

 

Angus Young gets it badly wrong...

Time to knock down the Lord Line building

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Forget the conspiracy theories: the longer a building stands empty, the more chance there is that someone is going to trash it, writes columnist Angus Young.

Another week, another big fire in an empty building in Hull.

This week's blaze inside the old Lord Line trawler company offices certainly isn't the first and probably won't be the last.

I don't go along with some of the wilder conspiracy theories doing the rounds about a "heritage arsonist" being on the loose.

True, fires in the New York Hotel, the George Lamb Memorial Chapel and the Cornmill Hotel have come thick and fast.

But there have been several previous fires in all three in recent years.

It's also the time of year for that sort of thing – lighter nights, school holidays, etc.

The plain fact is that, the longer a building stands empty, the more chance there is that someone is going to trash it.

• 'Act on arson' - council leader

The Lord Line has been derelict since the 1970s and while the case for restoring and reusing it might have been valid once upon a time, I firmly believe it should be pulled down as quickly as possible.

I've written about the need to redevelop what remains of St Andrew's Dock before.

It's a crying shame to see the place from where 6,000 men sailed to their deaths at sea is in such a dreadful state.

The Lord Line's owners, Manor Property Group, appear incapable of implementing the planning permission it currently has to build a student campus there.

I'm told the other significant landowner in the area is mulling over options to redevelop the rest of the old dock.

Like the New York Hotel and the George Lamb Memorial, it's a sad case of epic private sector failure.

As with most issues around privately owned property, the city council is largely impotent in such matters.

The limited powers that are available to the council, such as compulsory purchase orders and demolition notices, tend to be mired in bureaucratic red tape and take ages to actually implement.

Then there's the cost to the public purse.

While the cost of some urgent repair work or even demolition secured through the serving of legal notices can be recovered, other costs still fall back on Joe Public.

Take, for example, the cost of sending a couple of fire crews to the Lord Line each time it goes up in flames.

I know some might mourn its passing, but it's time the Lord Line saga was brought to a close.

http://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Time...tory-26637287-detail/story.html#ixzz3cCgM2Qgc

 

Lord Line arson arrest - On Friday June 5, police arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of the Lord Line arson. He has subsequently been released on police bail pending further enquiries till a date in July.

http://www.humberside.police.uk/news/lord-line-arson-arrest