Major fire at Hastings Pier: Suspected teenage arsonists questioned
TWO suspected teenage arsonists were being questioned yesterday after a historic pier was destroyed by fire.
More than 60 firefighters vainly battled through the night to save the Victorian landmark at Hastings, Sussex.
But as flames engulfed the wood and cast iron structure, it took seven hours to control the inferno.
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By 8am, up to 95 per cent of the pier was destroyed. No-one was injured. The alarm was raised around 1am yesterday by a witness who alerted a passing police patrol.
Two men, aged 18 and 19, from St Leonards, Sussex, were arrested on suspicion of arson shortly afterwards. As the blaze took hold, firefighters were ferried out to sea by RNLI lifeboats to tackle the flames.
A Sussex Police spokesman said: “The origins of the fire are still being investigated.” Campaigners had been trying to raise money to restore the Grade II- listed pier to its former glory. A study had shown that the pier, which had been closed since 2006, could be made safe for £3million.
Hastings Council was prepared to buy it for £3million from Panamanian-registered company Ravenclaw.
Dale Turner, who runs the Seaspray bed and breakfast opposite the pier, criticised the authorities for failing secure its safety. Mr Turner, 55, said: “Now we may never get it back.”
John Wilson, 50, the pier’s former head of security, said: “It’s heartbreaking. Across the coast there are skeletons of piers littering the ocean.” Designed by Eugenius Birch, the pier opened in 1872.
Originally 910ft long, during the Second World War, a section was demolished to stop the Germans using it as a landing platform.
In the Sixties, it was a venue for concerts by the Rolling Stones, the Who and Jimi Hendrix.