Warehouse Fire Trafford Park

Just been to the scene of a Warehouse fire on Trafford Park at a company called Britannia Bradshaw.

Me and John were heading back from Sale Water Park when we saw a massive plume of smoke rising up into the sky, realising it had to be a big fire on Trafford Park and having the Camcorder with us we decided to track it down.

After following the smoke plume we ended up at an estate on Westinghouse Road, Trafford Park and managed to film some of the fire and a couple of the firefighters on a telescopic ladder attempting to douse the fire.

Heres some footage I’ve just uploaded to YouTube of the actual fire itself

According to local news report at 2-3 Fire Crews turned up to fight the Fire and when we left the warehouse was well ablaze

18 thoughts on “Warehouse Fire Trafford Park

  1. that was just sur excitin’ i nearly went to sleep ….. cummon vince, you can do better than this matey …. give us some more ‘Blue’ videos!

  2. Bradshaws is a household removals and storage company, where hundreds of families had all there possesions stored, and you guys think that its funny that the place has burned to the ground. Why dont you guys try talking to some of the people who had there stuff stored there and then see how funny it is!!

  3. Marcus, we did’nt know at the time who the firm was or what they did, we actually thought it was the firm where John worked, that was why we were being so flippant about it all.

    I do feel for the familys who had stuff stored there, but being honest about it, you’d think the storage company would have had some sort of Sprinkler system in place if they were storing such large amounts of flammable stock/propertie.

    So if our flipancy upsets some people accept our apologies, but don’t blame me for the fire and the loss of peoples possesions, thats Bradshaws you should be speaking

  4. I can’t understand why people have their possessions in storage ?
    A bit too much swearing in the video, you’re getting as bad as your brother-in-law. So just tone it down with less swearing. Anyway sorry to hear of peeps losses of possessions some of which will be irreplacable no doubt.

  5. My sister was one of those who lost everything in the fire. It was stored there pending removal to France next week. I believe that many others are in the same position and would like to contact them and poll information / ideas. Anyone of those affected who reads this could perhaps post a comment here. I will set up an email address and publish it if htere are any responses.

  6. David sorry to hear about your sister, hope she manages to salvage something out of it, even if its only due and fair compensation.
    Feel free to use this page as you will and hope you all get sorted in the end

  7. I’m in the middle of selling and buying a house in a new area. I took a suitcase and a few bits for work and have paid Britannia £1,500 to take my entire house and personal belongings (along with 30 plus treasured photo albums) and burn it all to the ground.
    I found out on Thursday 17th April, when I called them the man abruptly said ”we’ve had a fire, everythings gone”. My shock reaction was ”You are f–ing joking me” to which he replied ”theres no need to swear” and HUNG UP THE PHONE on me!
    I’ve been in bed crying for 4 days now. I needed to see it for myself on Sunday 20th April and sat by the fence crying, watching it still burning 2 weeks after it started.
    Words cannot describe my loss, my lifes memories and history cannot be replaced with cash, it cannot be ‘sorted out’.
    The fire affected 400 customers, not all their details have been recoved from the hard drives yet, so many still don’t know. If you are a Britannia customer and want to talk, email me at josy.howard@virgin.net.
    To David: I think setting up an email address for people is a good idea. I cannot believe Britannia have not set up a help line.

  8. Josy, i’ve forwarded your post onto David to let him know your thoughts on the email address.

    Just an idea, but have you thought about setting up a Facebook group to discuss the matter and also it would allow you all to post your thoughts/ideas on any action you wish to take against the removal company

  9. My partner and I have also suffered a huge loss thanks to the John Bradshaw Warehouse fire.

    My partner have been relocated through her company from London and the relocation company used Sandersteads (Britannia Movers) who packed, moved and stored ‘our whole life’ in the John Bradshaw warehouse since November 2007.

    We are both still finding it extremely hard to come to terms with our loss. We both purchased an apartment in London in 2005 and purchased most of our belongings then.

    My partner’s company provided temporary accommodation for us for six months and we were about to retrieve our belongings, when the Bradshaw warehouse fire broke out on Saturday 5th April. We could actually see the massive plume of smoke from the temporary accommodation balcony in Salford, but at that point in time we were not aware that our and many other’s belongings were being destroyed in front of our eyes.

    A number of documents including birth certificate [from Zimbabwe], school & qualification certificates [from South Africa], home office documents for partnership visa, deeds proving ownership of our apartment in London etc) & other general paperwork (bank statements, and all other household documents for past 6 years was in storage.

    On top of this was photo’s of our childhood, parents, grand parents, negatives of our photo’s, African arts and crafts, gifts from family and friends, furniture, CD’s, DVD’s, PS2 games, some jewelry, bicycles, camping equipment, kitchen equipment, clothes and basically our ‘whole boxed up life’.

    We’ve been reading articles in the Manchester Evening News about photo’s etc. being dumped in green bins etc.
    See the following links:

    http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/search/display.var.2231459.0.warehouse_blaze_photos_dumped_in_bin.php

    http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1048473_hope_for_fire_families

    http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/search/display.var.2256543.0.appeal_to_reclaim_blaze_possessions.php

    After reading these articles about the dumped photos etc, we can only hope that we could salvage something from the site and will be making our way to the site this afternoon.

    My question to Sandersteads aka John Bradshaw is how they would compensate customers if fraud is to be committed due to their negligence to provide adequate security and protection of customer’s salvageable personal items.

    I cannot help but wonder how many customers’ salvageable items has actually been dumped in landfill already..

    My personal opinion is that John Bradshaw/Sandersteads have not provided ‘aftercare’ and what they have been providing is insult to injury. It seems that Sandersteads/John Bradshaw wants to clear the site as soon as possible and the process of reuniting personal belongings to customers would hinder and slow down the process of rebuilding the warehouse…

    We’ve also been having some trouble with our claim on top of the loss and thus John Bradshaw aka Sandersteads is a thorn in our sides.

  10. To David, Please set up an e’mail address so that people involved can form a group. I have had legal advice and been informed that a group action is the best way to proceed. It will also reduce any legal costs.
    Like your sister, my wife and I have lost everything in this fire, we sold our house and left for Australia 1st Nov 07 with only one suitcase each, our flight baggage, everything else went into storage and it is far in excess of the insurance limit.
    I am 72 my wife is 63, both retired, if we were in our 30s/40s we may well have been able to make some sort of recovery but at our age where do you start.
    The only reaction we have had from Britannia Bradshaws is ‘its in the hands of the loss adjusters, deal with them’
    The solicitor says that Britannia Bradshaws cannot relinquish responsibility to the insurance companies, they have a ‘duty of care’ to take all reasonable actions to make your property safe e.g. Spinkler system, security etc.
    I am in the process of trying to obtain a Fire Report from Greater Manchester fire & resue, but to-date have not yet received one.
    It was two weeks before Britannia informed us of our loss.
    The solicitor also informed us that we should have been given the oportunity to see what could have been salvaged, because it is still your property even when damaged, even the ash still belongs to you. We need as many involved people as possible.
    waw72@hotmail.com

  11. I am sorry that your retirement plans have been thwarted. My sister and I are now in contact with a number of people but still far short of the 300 or so affected.

    I have set up an email account (bblosses@live.co.uk) which we will keep an eye on and try to get a group together so we can take legal action at minimal cost. I agree that the treatment of clients by Brittania Bradshaw is shabby to say the least and it is plain that they are trying to shed responsibility. I believe my sister also tried to obtain the fire investigators report but was told it would not be made public. Yet another reason to get together and obtain a court order.

    Please send an email if you have been affected.

  12. I have only just found out about this, I had a crate in there that had everything i owned it while i moved out of Manchester and looked for somewhere to live. 30 years down the swannie, no furniture, vintage drums, most of my clothes, mementoes from late friends. Everything.

  13. Aiden, thinking your not the only who is only just finding out about the fire, seems there’s quite a few people out there who have’nt been contacted, guessing by the amount of people that Bradshaw’s probably kept all there client records on-site, meaning they went up in flames to.

    For anyone thats interested I’ve re-opened the Blogs forum and your all more then welcome to use it to post/get in contact with others in your situation, the Forums link is on the right or just got to http://www.forumandcokes.co.uk

  14. I am a solicitor representing three clients who lost possessions in the fire at the Trafford Park warehouse and would be interested to hear from any other solicitors who have been instructed in this matter or from other victims who may require my assistance.

    Please do not hesitate to contact me or pass my contact details on to others.

  15. I put my things into storage at the end of October whilst I relocated to the Isle of Lewis. My work paid and I called to arrange delivery just after Easter only to find out about the fire.

    My friend and I have lost so many items of irreplacable value: photographs of a life and loved ones now gone, 5 degree dissertations and other writings including my own poetry collection and some art work, journals from retreats over a 20 year period. Then more mundane but necessary items needed to create a home… curtains, bedding, clothes, books, electrical things, etc.

    This has been hugely traumatic and I feel there should have been some support forthcoming to help those affected immediately and in the longer term in rebuilding lives.

    The Isle of Lewis is a beautiful island but it offers limited retail opportunities to begin replacing these things. I have felt stunned and experience waves of deep sadness as I have moments of remembering the items that connected me with my late parents, extended family, friends and personal achievements and travels, etc.

    I only got the letter about mid-late April about the fire after we managed to get in touch by phone presuming we could arrange delivery to our new home… Now we only have a few things of our own and have taken to visiting charity shops to find items we need…

    Some useful items I found whilst aimlessly searching to make sense of what has happened: a CD on ebay for about £5 called a ‘Home Contents Catalogue’ which allows you to list your household effects with model, make and value plus photos, if this is used and copied to keep one offsite at least folks have some record to fall back on. Age Concern also offers a free service to have a list of important documents and where you store them. These can be in paper form or encrypted for access by a designated person should the occasion arise. Good ideas but too late for us following the Bradshaw fire.

    I have just found this site and feel sick at the thought of having missed an opportunity to sift through the ashes of my things, even a charred photo would be of great value to me….

    What is happening to others about the insurance claims? I am dyslexic and the form filling amid the painful remembering is disabling me….

  16. Marion, sorry to hear about your loss and hope you at least are able to get some sort of recompense from Bradshaw’s, it seems as though there are still quite a few people out there who don’t even know there goods have been destroyed in the fire and like you are only finding out months later, either by accident or by a much delayed letter from there insurance company.

    Marion there was talk in some of the earlier comments on this post that perhaps a number of you could get togeather and file a class action against Bradshaws and perhaps help save on the costs of going to court, do you wish me to pass your contact details onto the person who mentioned this ?

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