[Clips] Sealand in ruins after blaze

[R.A. Hettinga]

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  Delivered-To: rah at shipwright.com
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  Date: Sun, 25 Jun 2006 00:38:45 -0400
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  From: "R.A. Hettinga" <rah at shipwright.com>
  Subject: [Clips] Sealand in ruins after blaze
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<http://www.eadt.co.uk/content/eadt/news/story.aspx?brand=EADOnline&category=news&tBrand=EADOnline&tCategory=zNews&itemid=IPED24%20Jun%202006%2009%3A12%3A24%3A070>



  EADT -

  05:28 > Sunday 25th June 2006


  Sealand in ruins after blaze

  24 June 2006 | 09:21




  CRAIG ROBINSON

  A FORMER wartime fortress which is now a self-proclaimed independent state
  has been left devastated after a fierce blaze tore through the structure.

  The so-called Principality of Sealand, seven miles off the coast of
  Felixstowe and Harwich, was evacuated at lunchtime yesterdayafter a
  generator caught fire.

  Thames Coastguard, Harwich RNLI lifeboat, Felixstowe Coastguard rescue
  teams, firefighting tug Brightwell, the RAF rescue helicopter from
  Wattisham and 15 Suffolk based firefighters from the National Maritime
  Incident Response Group (MIRG) were all called into action to tackle the
  blaze.

  One man, believed to be a security guard, was airlifted from the scene and
  taken to Ipswich Hospital with smoke inhalation but no one else was on the
  Second World War gun emplacement.

  Emergency services were first alerted to the drama just after midday when
  eyewitnesses noticed huge clouds of black smoke billowing out of the
  concrete structure, which is owned by self-styled King Roy Bates.

  Brian Ironman, who was fishing just off Sealand along with his dog Rosie,
  said he noticed something was wrong around 11.30am.

  "I'd been fishing nearby since 7am for smoothhound and tope and just before
  lunchtime I noticed there was a lot of smoke coming from the back end of
  the tower," he said.

  "I immediately thought something was wrong and called the coastguard
  straight away. They were here fairly quickly and there were about five or
  six extinguishers trying to put the fire out.

  "The helicopter also arrived and I think it picked up one person who was on
  the platform."

  Andrew Beal, a council worker from Trimley who watched events unfold from
  his beach hut at Brackenbury, said: "There was thick black smoke billowing
  out of the gun emplacement. Air sea rescue was heading out at high speed
  and hovered over the platform and appeared to be taking someone off.

  "There were several other vessels heading out, including a lifeboat, and
  there was a boat out there hosing it down. The smoke was hundreds of feet
  high in the air."

  Rod Markham, who runs angling trips out of Felixstowe Ferry in his boat
  Tracy Jane, was able to see the excitement from his house.

  "At first I just thought they were stoking up the generators because there
  is always a bit of smoke - I never realised it was on fire," he said.

  "But when I looked back after I'd messed about a bit in the garden I saw
  there was a big deluge of black and that's when I saw the lifeboat and tug
  were there."

  Firefighting tug Brightwell from the port of Felixstowe was despatched to
  the scene and doused the flames with vast amounts of water.

  A team of 15 off-shore firefighters from the National Maritime Incident
  Response Group (MIRG) were also assembled but after a reconnaissance of the
  area from the air it was decided it was too dangerous to land.

  Keith Churchman, of Harwich Royal National Lifeboat Institution, said: "The
  damage is very extensive. The fire started in a generator and spread
  quickly to the accommodation.

  "There have been a number of explosions on board as the fire has engulfed
  gas bottles and batteries. Only one person was on Sealand at the time, whom
  we understand to be a watchman whose job was to maintain the generators and
  equipment.

  "A team of firefighters was flown to the scene but because of the damage to
  the structure they decided not to go on board.

  "A firefighting tug sprayed the whole structure with water in the hope this
  would eventually cool the fire and starve it of oxygen."

  A spokesperson for Suffolk Fire Service confirmed the fire was left to burn
  itself out and was under control by 3.10pm.


  --
  -----------------
  R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
  The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
  44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
  "... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
  [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
  experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
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-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'