Firefighters called to CenterParcs

FIRECREWS were called to a major leisure complex when fluids on cleaning rags and maintenance cloths spontaneously combusted in a bag.

Just months after Center Parcs reopened following a devastating blaze, crews were called out to the holiday village in Elveden, near Mildenhall, after a fire started in a domestic service storeroom.

Suffolk Fire Service's John Hubble, area commander for west Suffolk, revealed the fire was not being treated as suspicious and praised the company's sprinkler system, which confined the incident.

He said: "We were called to the laundry area after a large pile of cleaning rags and maintenance cloths were placed under a table in a large plastic bag and they spontaneously combusted.

"The sprinklers came on and controlled the fire and prevented it from spreading but did not extinguish it.

"The sprinklers did the job very well and confined the fire to a very small area and there was no structural damage.

"We are not investigating the fire as it appears to be just one of those things. The heat stayed in the bag and although spontaneous combustion is not a common occurrence, it is a known occurrence."

Crews from Thetford and Brandon attended the fire at about 3.30am yesterday .

Centre Parcs spokesman Simon Kay said no holidaymakers had to be evacuated, as the storeroom was not near any residential villas.

Mr Kay said: "It was a very small isolated fire but we were very pleased with how the sprinklers responded.

"At no time was our operation affected and it was not very close to the villas."

Center Parcs was ravaged in April 2002 when fire tore through restaurants, shops and other facilities in the heart of the village. Nobody was injured but 3,500 holidaymakers were evacuated and hundreds of people lost their jobs as Center Parcs closed for 15 months.

But after an intensive £45 million restructuring programme, the revamped complex was unveiled and has been fully booked in recent weeks.