‘Devastating’ arson attack on Wisbech Ex-services Club

An investigation is underway in Wisbech following a ‘devastating’ arson attack on a club in the town in the early hours of today (Monday).

A burglar alarm sounding at the Wisbech Ex-Services Club in Alexandra Road alerted the club’s manager and she checked the CCTV cameras to discover a blaze in the building and quickly contacted the fire service.

More than 20 firefighters, including crews from Wisbech and March, along with others from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, attended the incident which happened at around 4.30am.

Firefighters arrived to find a fire on the ground floor of a building, with flames and smoke clearly visible. Wearing breathing apparatus they extinguished the fire using hose reels and a jet. No casualties were involved.

Kelley Lewis, a key club member and events organiser, claimed the fire had been started deliberately with an object thrown through a club window.

He said: “It is absolutely devastating. We are a busy little club with pool and darts played every night. We have around 150 members, most of them ex-services although the club is open to anyone.

“I was called at around 5am to go down there and it was very upsetting to watch. We haven’t been able to get into the building yet, we are waiting for the scenes of crime officers to finish up and give us the all-clear. But looking from the outside it looks like we are going to be closed for quite a while.

“The smoke damage looks really bad and there is also water damage from the hoses used to put the fire out. We will know more once we can get inside, just how bad it is.”

It took the fire crews nearly three hours to extinguish the fire in the building, which neighbours the historic Angles Theatre.

Kelley said: “I think the burglar alarm going off and our manager checking what was happening saved the situation from being much worse.

“There are gas cylinders in the cellar so you can imagine what damage they could have caused if they had exploded.”

A fire service spokesperson said: “An investigation is being carried out to determine the cause of the fire.”