Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

"More than 100 firefighters are tackling a fire at the Afan Lido in Port Talbot after a blaze broke out at the pool."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8417165.stm

I hope it's not as bad as it sounds. :(

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

I've just been down there - it's an awful sight. The Lido has been a landmark around here since I was a few years old. Most of the local residents have been evacuated and a 2 mile radius has been blocked off.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

how can a fire break out at a Pool?

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

The pool is just an expanse of water - the Aquadome facility is a large leisure building -

[img]Download Failed (1)[/img]

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

Thanks for the eye witness account Russ. I have fond memories of the Lido from when I was a boy. An iconic building. :(

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

It is just a building but as you say it's iconic, one of the few remaining landmarks around here that everyone has an afinity to. It feels like part of my childhood has been destroyed and going on some of my friends' reactions on facebook tonight it seem like I'm not the only one to feel an attachment to it.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

im aware of that being from Neath i used to swim there but someone said "It broke out at the pool".

I thought they meant in the pool part.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

just came back from there seems the lido is no more speaking to one of the firemen and he said "looks like it will have to come down "as it is beyond repair now

pity as this place was a great place for kids and alike

it is pure mayhem around here with most roads closed in around the lido

well done to the firemen /police/ambulance crews on sight even the coastguard are on sight
sad day for port talbot
madian2

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

What about the Sport hall section by the football pitch, was that up in flames too? I could only see the front.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

This is how I remember that part of Aberavon (the blobby child in the short trousers in the bottom right image is, um, me, true).

Afan Lido: http://www.oldukphotos.com/graphics/...fan%20Lido.jpg

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

could not get round the back m8

but it aint looking good


madian2

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

Hi Guy,s

I live approx 400m from the Afan Lido at the new appartments on the old Beach Hotel site. The fire at the Lido was contained to just the swimming pool and office block only and the sports hall, squash courts etc were not directly effected.
The fire according to the latest reports started in an electrical substation that was located under the swimming pool area and quickly spread to the office areas. So the swimming pool was not directly the problem! The building not only was a swimming pool, it was also a safe kids play pool area, and housed several Council services, a local radio station Afan FM and a medical unit. This as far as I know and have seen as you cannot get too close because of the worry of toxic fumes.
The Sfan Lido is about 30 years old and has been recently modernised from an olympic sized swimming facility into what was called the Aqua Dome - basically it had added water shoots and was more of a leisure facility than a conventional swimming pool. The fire service eventually had to bring in the very large simon snorkel type extendible ladder fire appliances to tackle the fire from above. Seeing this against a dark sky lit by fire, emergency lights and smoke - it reminded me of those scenes you see of the London Blitz.
Tomorrow with daylight will reveal the extend of the damage, however given the length of time this fire has been running (first reported at 4.30pm and it's still not out now at 10.30pm) there's not much hope this building can be saved. locally there's no traffic except for emergency service vehicles and there is a sense of sadness and disbelief that this could happen to an iconic building that many have enjoyed using. There are few sporting facilities in Port Talbot and this was a facility that was well used and will be sadly missed.
All in the building were safely evacuated, and to this time, no emergency service personnel have fortunately been injured. The emergency services have been courageous, but it's a sad night for those directly effected with this fire - the jobs of those who worked there, council services that were offered from there and facility users.
Good night all
Brian

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

Thanks for the information Brian, and welcome to the forum.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

Now a report on BBC News.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

when i heard about the fire, my immediate thoughts were that it was deliberate ( yes i know...i'm a cynical person). i was informed earlier, by someone i know and completly trust ( he's been a valuable source of info regarding council and steelwork 'inside info' for 15+ years), that planning permission had been sought (prior to the fire having gutted the lido) for a housing development on the lido site..... along with planning permission for a 50m community pool on the adjacent car park area.

my response to this was that while i appreciate there's some level of corruption in local councils ( or maybe its me being cynical?) surely there's some kind of paper trail for a criminal investigation to be justified?

to which i recieved a fact that the Aberavon beach hotel ( a listed building i believe?) had had planning permission sought, for a housing development, albeit while it was derelict, but hadn't yet been completly destroyed by a fire. there's now a housing development there.

the same goes for the vivian park hotel. same request for planning permission, destroyed by fire, housing developement is now going ahead.

I know i can be cynical (overly sometimes) but surely it cant be just me (and my mate :)) who think this all sounds a bit dodgy?

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

Total and utter BS. I know 3 people who work in the planning department at the Civic Centre, nothing gets applied for in the NPT areas without at least 2 of them being aware, including plans submitted by the council itself.

The amount of revenue generated by the Aquadome outweighs anything the council would receive from having it turned in to accomodation.

Have a look at the damaged building. If the fire was started deliberately why would the hub of it be at the far end? It makes no sense. If 'they' (or whichever shadowy New World Order type group believed to behind such arson) were to set fire to the place then it would make more sense for it to be central to the building, in the area below where the fitness gym is. That way any such fire could spread in all directions.

Also why in the daytime which could risk injury or loss of life? Far more damage would ensue if the fire went off at night - nobody around to raise the alarm until it was too late etc.

Seriously, step back from the anti-council stance that so many Port Talbot residents seem to have developed in the last 2 weeks - common sense tells us it was just an accident.

Rant over.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

hold on russ... maybe that horse is too high for you.
"shadowy new world type order"???

I never said it made sense, the fire having started in the daytime. and who said I was anti council, I didnt. and common sense does tell us it was an accident, i completly agree. but does that tell us, as a matter of fact, that it was an accident.

I am not someone who goes in for conspiracy theories and was just expressing an opinion and briefly highlighting a conversation i had with a good friend earlier.

"The amount of revenue generated by the Aquadome outweighs anything the council would receive from having it turned in to accomodation."
I wouldnt dispute that.

"Total and utter BS. I know 3 people who work in the planning department at the Civic Centre, nothing gets applied for in the NPT areas without at least 2 of them being aware, including plans submitted by the council itself."

I never said that a planning application had been made. maybe i could have worded my post better. by saying that "planning permission had been sought" I meant that discussions between individuals regarding planning permission for a housing developmnent have taken place.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

When you say planning permission was sought, that indicates it had been applied for. Seeking it and discussing it around a table are 2 very different matters. Your original post made it sound like your friend had told you permission had already been applied for.

I get really annoyed when it's suggested that NPT is trying to turn everything in to flats etc. OK many have been built but they've all been done legitimately - the exception of course is the Jersey Beach Hotel but the lasting conspiracy around that was the potential developers were allegedly behind its destruction, not the council.

I hold NPT council in pretty high contempt but suggesting they're behind some sort of conspiracy? No way. Since your clarification I accept you weren't suggesting that but so many people are happy to believe that the council had been arranging the fire for weeks/months etc is just silly.

It makes no sense whatsoever for the council to destroy the borough's main money-maker. Why people are putting around rumours of underhanded tactics on the part of the council I'll never understand.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

like i said russ...maybe i could have worded my post better. please accept my apologies for annoying you so close to christmas...it wasnt my intention

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

lol you didn't annoy me. But all people are talking about around here is how the council want to turn it in to flats etc. When you ask them why they'd want to do that they give a look as if you'd asked them to explain quantum physics.

Re: Major fire at the Afan Lido
 

Much of Afan Lido 'to be demolished'

"Damage to the Afan Lido leisure centre caused by a severe fire in December is so bad that the majority of it will have to be demolished."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/8465786.stm