Fire damages Ukrainian club in England (02/13/05)

Fire damages Ukrainian club in England

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - A fire burned through a Ukrainian cultural center in a suburb of London on February 2, BBC News reported the following day.

No one was injured, but firefighters had been working to control a major blaze that destroyed a large part of the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England.

Some 30 firefighters reportedly worked to tackle the fire but were forced to leave when a roof of one of the cultural center's rooms collapsed. They fought to stop the blaze from spreading to a bar and museum building next to the club.

Residents in the neighborhood had been evacuated from their homes after the fire broke out at the cultural center in the afternoon, the news service said. The buildings associated with the blaze were the property of the Association of Ukrainians in Great Britain.

An investigation was opened into the cause of the fire, which could be seen three miles away across the city center, the BBC reported.

Lubomyr Mazur confirmed on February 3 that the fire the previous day occurred in Manchester - one of the two biggest Ukrainian communities in England.

"I have had the opportunity to see the extent of the fire damage for myself, to monitor what is and should be happening at this early stage and to offer the community my own personal and the association's moral support," Mr. Mazur said in an e-mail message.

"The good news is that nobody was injured as a result of the fire and also that the original building, which housed a social club, some function rooms and school rooms, has remained essentially intact and functional," Mr. Mazur said.

"The bad news is that the Assembly Hall building, with its associated bar, kitchen, restaurant, school rooms and function rooms, has been completely destroyed, even though, remarkably, it is still standing. Having said that, though, the building is in a very precarious position, indeed, and will inevitably need to be demolished," he observed.

Mr. Mazur said he spoke with fire officials and confirmed that there were no indications as to the cause of the fire, and added that there was no speculation of wrongdoing with regard to how the fire started.

| Home Page |