Fire at Amazon’s Rugeley distribution centre treated as “suspicious”
A fire which broke out at Amazon’s Rugeley distribution centre on Saturday (4 November) is being treated as suspicious by police after a fire investigation found it was most likely caused deliberately.
In a statement posted on its website, the Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service said that fire crews were called at around midday to deal with a fire which began on the third floor and then spread to the forth floor of the four storey building.
The building’s sprinkler system prevented the fire from spreading to the rest of the facility.
The Fire Service said that the investigation findings “indicate the fire was caused deliberately and a full forensic police investigation is now underway”.
Fire Investigation Officer Carl Mason commented: “This was quite a large scale incident which took several hours to deal with due to the type of materials inside the building and the level of smoke logging which took significant time to ventilate. The blaze has left the building seriously damaged but fortunately everyone inside was safely evacuated and no one was injured during the incident.”
Mason added: ““We will continue to work closely with Staffordshire Police on their on going investigation into the incident.”
Sources report that it is unclear at this stage how the Rugely incident could affect Amazon’s distribution plans in the run-up to Peak season.
