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Huge fire at University of Nottingham campus building site Huge fire at University of Nottingham campus building site
(about 9 hours later)
Firefighters are tackling a "significant" blaze at the University of Nottingham. Around 60 firefighters are at the scene after being called to the campus shortly after 8.30pm on Friday night. A "significant" blaze which has destroyed a multi-million pound university chemistry building has been brought under control, firefighters have said.
A spokesman for Nottinghamshire fire and rescue said: "We are dealing with a significant incident. We were called at 8.36pm to a building under construction on Triumph Road in Radford. The building is part of the University of Nottingham campus." Around 60 firefighters were on scene at the height of the fire, after being called to the University of Nottingham campus shortly after 8.30pm on Friday night.
Pictures on Twitter showed a huge blaze lighting up the night sky with plumes of smoke coming from the building. The cause of the blaze was as yet unknown, a fire spokesman said. The university put out a statement just before midnight saying that it did not believe the fire had claimed any lives. No one was injured and no other buildings were affected as fire crews fought to gain control of the fire while it tore through the timber-framed building, sending burning debris into the sky above.
Nottingham fire and rescue group manager Joanne Wooler-Ward said: "No other buildings have been affected, fortunately no people were involved in this fire and we've had 12 crews here, that's over 60 firefighters.
"Credit to those firefighters who pulled out all the stops to prevent this fire spreading.
"When we arrived, the fire was a significant size - it could be seen from quite a distance - and there was a smoke plume spreading towards the campus area so we sent out a message for people to keep doors and windows closed.
"The firefighters have worked hard to contain that fire and stop it from spreading to any other buildings.
"Members of the public might have been quite alarmed when they heard a loud bang that some thought was an explosion - that's something that happens to buildings when they're exposed to extreme heat and pressure but that's a risk that we manage and are trained to deal with."
Firefighters managed to bring the blaze under control at around 1am on Saturday but crews remained overnight to fully extinguish it, with an investigation into the cause likely to take place once it is out.
The building was under construction and was not in use when it caught fire.
Dr Paul Greatrix, registrar at the University of Nottingham said: "Firefighters are dealing with a major fire at our GSK sustainable chemistry building on Jubilee Campus.
"Thankfully, there have been no casualties as this is a building that was still under construction.
"Our number one priority is to ensure that the fire does not spread to other buildings in the vicinity and we are grateful to the fire teams on site who have worked extremely hard to contain the blaze."
Dr Greatrix added the university's open day for prospective students on Saturday was still going to go ahead.
The building was partly funded by a £12 million grant from GlaxoSmithKline in 2012 to establish a sustainable chemistry laboratory and was due to be completed by 2015, according the the University of Nottingham website.
Pictures on Twitter showed a huge blaze lighting up the night sky with plumes of smokes coming from the building.