Fire-hit Primark building in Belfast ‘could collapse’

A senior fire officer has warned that a five-storey Primark building that was gutted in a blaze is at risk of collapsing.

The historic building in Belfast city centre was burnt out in a blaze that ripped through the flagship store on Tuesday.

A 45-metre exclusion zone remains in place as fire officers warned the severe structural damage could cause the old building to collapse.

“There is still a risk it could collapse and that’s why we have the cordons in place,” he said.

“At the facade of the building you can see the structural damage and the collapsed and twisted steel but we can’t access that area because of risk of it collapsing.”

Fire crews were called to the scene at 11am on Tuesday and were there within minutes.

The building was undergoing renovations to add 30,000 sq ft in a multimillion-pound refurbishment.

Firefighters were able to save the extension and prevent the fire from spreading to the new part.

Emergency services will remain in place throughout the day and into the night.

The fire crews used water supplies from the nearby Lagan River to help extinguish the major blaze.

“On a number of occasions we had to withdraw fire crews from the concrete stairs due to the collapses inside the building causing heat.

“This has been very much a team effort, not just with fire crew but all agencies.”

Firefighters are continuing to deal with hot spots and areas of rubble, stock and timber that are burning under the collapsed structures.

Mr Jennings also said that part of their investigation will look at whether there were sprinklers inside the building.

He added that the cause of the fire is not yet known.

A number of Primark staff and union representatives met with management at a hotel on Wednesday to discuss future plans.

Usdaw, which represents all of Primark’s staff, confirmed that employees will be paid until the end of the week.

The union’s area organiser Michala Lafferty said that further discussions will take place over the next few days to agree “what happens next”.

She said: “Our members are extremely distressed and concerned as they now enter a period of uncertainty.

“The company has reassured me that the welfare and job security of the staff is their priority.”

Belfast city councillors, including Lord Mayor of Belfast Deirdre Hargey, also met with Primark officials.

Speaking afterwards, the Sinn Fein councillor said it was too early to say whether the facade of the historic building can be saved.

She added: “We also discussed keeping the city centre open for business. We all need to pull together and ensure we secure the site and get people back into work again.”

“We need to get them back up and running again,” Ms Hargey added.

“It’s been devastating – I’ve been speaking with the Primark staff. There’s 360 staff and they are like a family so they’re really impacted by this. It’s a real sense of loss to them.

“We will look at all avenues to get this back up and running again or see whether Primark can relocate somewhere else to make sure the employees have employment.

“Firefighters have been working tirelessly around the clock and we have to give them their full support.”