Two young boys have been arrested by police in link with a huge blaze that devastated a historical yacht club. According to reports, around 30 fire fighters fought through the whole evening to extinguish the fire at the Alexandra Yacht Club located in Clifton Terrace in Southend. A single chimney is all that stays as the immense fire reduced to ash.
Essex Fire and Rescue and Essex Police started a probe earlier this morning into the reason of the fire that was so fierce the house in Clifton Terrace got collapsed. In the meantime, 2 boys aged sixteen and seventeen, both from Westcliff, are presently being questioned by the police. They were caught on arson suspicion after being stopped by the police in Westcliff at around 3 am.
The hundred and thirty year old club house that has been shut down and would be torn down because of subsidence was well ablaze at around 11.45 pm previous night. Fire crews from 6 engines spent the next 2 hours eliminating the flames from the Royal Terrace with an aerial ladder when police shut down either side of the road there as well as the pavements on the Western Esplanade.
Fire officers as well as police officers have had yet to wait till day light to start an investigation into the matter as the ground is too unstable for investigating officers to be carried out in darkness. Steve Parker, the station officer and incident commander, stated that the fire started in Alexandra Yacht Club on Southend seafront just before midnight on Saturday evening. The building was derelict and was situated on the side of the cliff on stilts.