The neighbours of a former social club engulfed by a huge blaze said their windows 'buckled' under the heat.
On Saturday evening, a fire ripped through an old social club on Harradon Road, Fazakerley. Fire crews arrived on scene at around 8pm and remained there until around 8am on Sunday morning.
Police cordoned nearby streets as the fire blazed into the night, and neighbours were told to stay indoors and keep their doors and windows closed. People living on Harradon Road said their windows were "buckled" by the "intense" heat.
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One woman told the ECHO she came "running back" home after hearing about the fire. Sue said: "I was out and the boys were out, I came running back because I was concerned about the dog.
"My son’s window had been buckled and the window had dropped down a bit, so all the smoke had come in.
"The heat coming off the fire had bent parts of the windows. We had to shut the blinds and shut the door and put a wet towel beneath the door to keep the smoke from getting to the rest of the house.
" I know it’s a stupid thing to say but the fire was hot, even standing a fair bit away from it at the back. You could feel how intense it was.
" We’ve just got the yard and a back alley between us and the club really, but the fire brigade were really good at getting it all under control."
"It used to be a great little club in its day. Years ago it was a proper working man's club but it just became a resident's social club, called the Harradon, but its been closed for a good few years now.
"There was rumours that it was going to be turned into houses but nothing ever came of that I don’t think."
Another neighbour, who also didn't want to be named, said that "everything was fine" when they came home at around 8pm after having "been out for the afternoon." He said: "We saw a couple of wisps of smoke when we got in but nothing much.
"Then, at around 8.20pm the first engine went past the house. I thought what the hell was that.
"Then another came up and that's when the smoke started. It started building and I mean it was really building.
"It started blowing with intensity and that's when my wife shouted and said the social club was on fire.
"It went up in flames pretty quick and grew really intense. As the firemen were hosing down one side it'd be growing on the other.
"It went like that until way after 12am this morning.
"We've no idea what started it. We thought it could be something to do with fireworks as they've been going up every night, but that's just a thought."
A spokesperson for Merseyside Fire and Rescue service said: "Firefighting has continued overnight, with the incident scaled down to three fire engines and the aerial appliance in the early hours. A team from Scottish Power were able to isolate the electricity to the building so firefighting could continue with main branch hoses.
"Cadent also assisted by ensuring that the gas supply to the building was isolated. Crews continued to damp down the site using main branch and high pressure hoses and by around 5am the aerial appliance was no longer in use.
"Firefighters continued to damp down, cut back and expose smouldering joists and check for hot spots with a thermal imaging camera before leaving the scene at 8.18am."
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