Fire at abandoned building which closed A45 between Northampton and Wellingborough believed to have been started deliberately

Firefighters were called to an abandoned building near the Esso garage on the westbound carriageway between junctions 9 and 10, at around 3pm on Wednesday August 20.

The road was shut by Northamptonshire Police as smoke billowed from the building. The road fully reopened at around 8pm. Commuters faced rush hour delays.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) has confirmed that the structure of the building has collapsed and it is believed the fire was started deliberately.

A NFRS spokesman said: “On arriving at the scene, firefighters found a large amount of smoke billowing from the derelict building, and requested that Northamptonshire Police close a section of the A45 westbound while we dealt with the incident.

“The blaze had engulfed the whole building, and firefighters used hose reel jets to douse the flames. Electricity to the site was isolated while crews battled the fire.

“The flames had been largely extinguished by 5.30pm, with firefighters using thermal imaging cameras to identify any remaining hotspots and put them out throughout the evening.

“By 9.30pm, all crews had returned to their stations after determining the building was at a safe temperature and handed the scene over to police."

The fire service returned on Thursday August 21 to carry out a check of the building and found no signs of hotspots or smoke.

“A full fire investigation will be difficult to complete in full as the structure of the building has collapsed, but our initial findings indicate the fire was started deliberately,” the NFRS spokesman added.