A fire broke out at a dry cleaners in Cobham on the evening of the 27th September. Painshill, Esher, Leatherhead and Chertsey fire stations all had crews called out to the scene at around 9:15 pm.
The flats above Harlequin Dry Cleaners in Anyards Road had to be evacuated as a safety measure. The fire was eventually put out after about an hour, although the fire crews were there for more than three hours.
On Thursday morning, Watch Commander Bullen from the Cobham based Painshill Fire Station said: ‘We attended at 9:15 pm last night to the Harlequins launderette where there was a fully developed fire at the rear of the shop. The flats above the shop were evacuated as a precaution and the fire was extinguished by four firefighters who entered the building wearing breathing apparatus.’ Two hose reel jets and one covering jet were also used to put out the fire.
The crews eventually left the scene at around 12:30 am, after those who were evacuated from their flats were allowed back in. Thankfully, no one was injured.
The dry cleaners property suffered fire and smoke damage. The ground floor had 25% fire damage and 100% smoke damage.
The cause of the fire was investigated by the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service investigation team. They found that it was due to ‘towels soaked in essential oils, washed then tumble dried- oil does not wash out!’ This was posted on the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Twitter account.
