A fire that started during a Water Polo match is being dealt with by Lancaster Fire Department.
During the Lancaster Men’s 1sts Vs Leeds Beckett Men’s 1st water polo match today (Wednesday 17th November), “smoke was seen from an electrical horn” at the Sport Centre’s swimming pool.
Lancaster University Water Polo (LUSWP) were playing Leeds Beckett from 1PM with at least 26 people in attendance when the horn that signals change over in play got stuck.
It was “stuck on for about 2 minutes. This stayed stuck and eventually started smoking, at which point the lifeguards told us to exit, the fire alarm was hit and the staff responded very quickly with a fire extinguisher.”
Two full teams were in the swimming pool as well as a crowd of spectators during the match.
“We had to wait outside until the building was declared safe by the fire brigade, there were two trucks in the end!”
LUSWP SPOKESPERSON
The entire team were seen outside the sports centre wrapped in foils until the premise was deemed safe to enter.
It has not yet been confirmed by the Fire department what the cause of the fire was.
When asked for further details, a spokesperson for the Sports Centre declined to comment before Lancaster Fire Department have completed their official investigation.
On the LUSWP Instagram page, there has been no mention of the fire. The last story, posted 2 hours ago, announced a 33-9 victory to Lancaster and a video of players jumping celebratorily into the pool. This victory brought Lancaster’s water polo team to the top of the table and being promoted. “What a game!” their latest Instagram post reads. “Congratulations boys, a huge 33-9 win against Leeds Beckett today to secure top of the table. Well done guys.”
The state-of-the-art sporting facility features a 25-metre swimming pool with eight lanes and is used by most water sport societies on campus, including Underwater Hockey who had a training session scheduled for 3PM today and were turned away at the door due to the fire.
While there, a member of the team reported seeing “loads” of officers from the fire department in the pool area.
Sources at the scene witnessed a staff member phoning an emergency ambulance for another member of staff who had reportedly been, “struggling to breathe.”
At this time, it is unknown whether anyone has been hospitalised because of the suspected electrical fire or what the damage has been done to the pool. Though when SCAN visited the Sports Centre, the pool was up and running once again with no visible damage.
The Sports Centre posted an announcement on their Facebook page at 3PM today stating that “due to unforeseen circumstances, the Sports Centre Swimming Pool has had to temporarily close.”
This is an ongoing story and SCAN aim to report on the Fire Department’s investigation conclusion when it is announced.
