A building at the University of Nottingham’s (UoN) Jubilee Campus caught fire this evening (Friday 12th September), prompting significant responses from Nottinghamshire Fire and Nottinghamshire Police.
The GlaxoSmithKline Carbon Neutral Laboratory for Sustainable Chemistry is believed to have caught fire at around 9.15pm.
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed that it has dispatched ten fire and rescue crews to the Triumph Road site, with approximately fifty firefighters being sent to the scene.
The fire and rescue service also confirmed that fire crews were using two aerial platforms to help fight the fire from above and that there have been no reports of injuries.
A UoN third year student, told Impact: “I live in Heron Drive which is about a ten minute walk from Jubilee Campus, I could see plumes of smoke, embers flying everywhere. The aspire tower was lit up orange and I could see a few flames from my bedroom window”.
Pollyanna Ward, a UoN student living in Lenton, said: “Around 20 minutes ago [Approximately 9.15pm] it just looked like a really bright light was coming from the building, then the building burst into flames.
“The police and firefighters have blocked off Faraday Road, but there’s a massive crowd gathering on Cycle Road to watch”.
Nottinghamshire Police are providing assistance at the site of the incident, with a helicopter being used to monitor the spreading of flames.
Nearby residents are being advised to close all doors and windows because of flying debris from the site of the fire.
A police cordon has also been put in place, stretching from Derby Road to Ilkeston Road.
Dr Paul Greatrix, Registrar at the University, said in a statement: “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.
“Tomorrow we are due to welcome prospective students and their families to Nottingham for our Open Day and we would like to stress that this is still going ahead as planned”.
Jacob Bentley
Images: Pollyanna Ward (@Pollage), @MediaBradley and Josh Hardman (@josh_hardman) via Twitter
Update 00.51 13th Sept: The fire appears to be coming under control
