DETECTIVES are investigating a suspected arson attack after a blaze tore through a city centre health club in Manchester.
At its height, 14 fire engines and 70 firefighters were at the scene at The Basement Health Club in the six-storey Fourways House on Hilton Street in the Northern Quarter. Alerted by an alarm, crews arrived to find the fire well under way and evacuated 40 people at 12.30am.
The building's five other floors of luxury flats were also evacuated. A spokesman for the fire brigade could not confirm that an arson attack was suspected, saying only that there would be an investigation.
During the three-hour operation, officers had to search the "rabbit warren" of rooms after a person was wrongly reported missing.
Difficult
Some of the crews descended into the basement twice during the search operation, surfacing only to get more oxygen tanks.
A spokesman said: "The search was made incredibly difficult because there was a rabbit warren of tiny rooms like saunas down there, and the conditions meant they could only see a few feet ahead."
Before the blaze was brought under control hours later, it had spread briefly to a first floor flat via electrical wires.
One man was given oxygen for smoke inhalation and shock, and one firefighter suffered burns to his hand.
The spokesman added: "Basement fires are notoriously difficult to control, because there are no vents to let the heat and dangerous gases out. Firefighters had to break through to the pavement above to help bring it under control."
Fire investigators were due to examine the scene with forensic police officers today.
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what were ppl doing in a sauna at 12.30at night !? ive never heard of a sauna with "rabbit warren" like corridors !
well i guess ur going to the wrong kind of sauna, manchester is a 24/7 city and hardly a shocker it has a sauan that open late for workers and party ppl to go relex when ever they feel like it
Lets be honest - the sauna is a gay private members sex club. I'm sure anyone, straight or gay or whatever would be welcome to go down there for a sauna.
I'm horrfied at the possibility that this was an anti-gay attack on the sauna. It can be a very sad lonely life and whatever our personal opinions, surely we can respect the freedom of choice for gay people to have sex with other gay people. Its not the 70s.
All we ever see are subservient effeminate clowns telling patronising women how "fabulous" they look, desperate to carve a little niche for themselves in ordinary society. There's 2 gay saunas in Manchester, 2 in Blackpool, one near Liverpool, and douzens in London. Lets just deal with it for a change. I feel sorry most of all for the people who felt it necessary to try to burn the gay people using the sauna. To be consumed with anger and hatred like that is worse than being the subject of it.
I feel a little sorry for the firefighters though - what goes on behind closed doors in private is one thing but despite the necesity, i cant imagine all of them feeling completely unaffected by finding their way around dark rooms.