High winds led to collapse of house wall in Arlesey

Fire Control received a call about the collapse of a wall that was part of a two-storey building under construction in Arlesey at 3.26pm on Monday 8 February.

On-call Firefighters from Biggleswade Community Fire Station and a senior officer were sent to the scene to assess the situation and to take action to protect the public.

When they arrived they found that there were no casualties and that the front facing wall of a building under renovation had collapsed into the scaffolding surrounding the building and was held back from falling into the road by only a telegraph pole. Firefighters isolated the area around the building and called for expert advice from Central Bedfordshire Council’s building surveyors and the Health and Safety Executive.

Due to the high winds and impending darkness the Health and Safety Executive decided it was too dangerous to work on the building that evening. Firefighters then assisted in cordoning off the area around the site to protect the public overnight. The HSE will return this morning to discuss remedial action with the builder. Firefighters left the site at 6.49pm.