A blaze that ripped through a row of terraced houses in Ventnor last week was most likely – and ironically – caused by works to the roof of Ventnor Fire Station, Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service has confirmed. It was at around 17:30 on Friday afternoon that a fire broke out on South Street in Ventnor, directly next door to the town’s fire station – an incident which has prompted a thorough and independent review to be launched. More than 6 appliances from across the Island – and later the mainland – were mobilised to the incident as smoke billowed from the roof space of a row of 4 terraced homes, as previously reported by Island Echo. Within 3 hours the situation was brought under control but the roof was destroyed, leaving at least 2 families homeless. Despite the blaze developing on the doorstep, quite literally, Ventnor’s fire appliance did not turn out to the incident. It has been confirmed that the retained station was off the run due to a lack of availability, with the nearest appliance being located at Shanklin. 
Responding fire crews utilised scaffolding erected at Ventnor Fire Station to gain level access to the alight properties. The presence of scaffolding, felt and insulation prompted questions to be asked as to whether works at the station in any way contributed to the cause of the fire. Local residents have said that workmen left the station at around 16:30 that afternoon – just an hour before fire control was alerted to the developing blaze. Now, it has been confirmed to Island Echo that preliminary investigation has shown the most likely cause of the fire was hot works being carried out by contractors to seal the roof of Ventnor Fire Station. 
James Lucy, Assistant Director of Operations for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service, has said:
“Hot work is regularly undertaken during construction and maintenance projects and requires careful and active risk management. Our contractor followed due process to secure a permit for the works, which included completing a full risk assessment prior to starting the works on the roof. The permit requires that measures are put in place to mitigate identified risks as far as possible. “We recognise that this incident has significantly impacted our neighbours and caused some concern across the community. We will be reaching out to those affected and offering our full support following this unfortunate event. “We are taking this matter extremely seriously and there will be a thorough and independent review into the specific circumstances”.
Work at the fire station appeared to be halted on Monday. 
