Challenging blaze for firefighters

Wednesday 22 January 2020

Cavities between the walls of Red, Tinto and other surrounding buildings left firefighters with additional challenges, as they fought to control a blaze between the properties overnight.

There are a number of voids in the walls between the restaurants and bars, through which the fire spread.

The fire originally started in the kitchen at Red, but quickly spread through these cavities, and soon there was a fire in Tinto's kitchen next door. Duty Fire Officer for the incident Steve Wilkes said: "We got a call to Red restaurant shortly before 19:00 last night, where there was a fire in the kitchen.

"It spread within and around the kitchen, and was in the hidden voids in the building. That meant it spread to Tinto's kitchen."

Pictured: Four fire engines were on the scene. Image by Sam Thompson. 

The roads around the eateries had to be closed so firefighters could take control of the situation. Those fire teams were on the scene until 03:30 this morning, because they had to spend hours cutting away at the walls inside the building to find and expose numerous fires.

16 firefighters were involved in total, but luckily no crew, Red staff or members of the public were injured. 

Mr Wilkes added that there was a lot of smoke damage throughout the two restaurants, and people had to be evacuated, leaving their meals on the table.

"We were doing a fire watch all night, and we will be keeping a close eye on the buildings. Because of their age and proximity to their neighbours, there could be risk going forwards, so we will be ensuring we are watching." 

Pictured: The scene last night, captured by Scott Tostevin. 

It's not the first time the popular group of bars and restaurants has suffered a fire. 

In July 2018, the emergency services were called out after a fire started in the vent between Red and Rosso.

Pictured: There was a fire in a vent between Red and Rosso in 2018.

During that emergency response, both facilities remained open with the cocktails flowing in Red as diners continued feasting on pizza and steaks.

Pictured top: The fire meant the seafront was closed last night. Image by Sam Thompson.