Roads were closed after large fire in building near Falmouth

Firefighters were called to Ponsharden at just after midnight this morning after Critical Control received a call at 00:08 for a fire in a commercial building.

The fire was in a building behind the old Vospers site, not in Ponsharden Boatyard as earlier reported by the police.

Roads were initially shut to allow emergency services to work at the scene, although have since reopened. 

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Ponsharden roundabout was closed due to the fire with all traffic being diverted past Falmouth School.

Fire crews at the scene, with the fire taking place on the site behind them (Image: Falmouth Packet)

It also resulted in the closure of the roads at Hillhead and North Parade this morning. Diversions were in place.

Incident commander and Falmouth station manager Martyn Addinall told the Packet they had faced a "very large" and "significant" fire in the building which needed 50 lengths of hose to tackle which meant they had to close the roads.

He said there was quite a lot of damage within the building which was used for manufacturing. He said there was nobody on site at the time and all the crews were safe. Full interview in the Facebook Live video.

OTS Bus Services said: "Due to a building fire and subsequent road closure at Ponsharden, services 69 and 69A are going to be heavily disrupted this morning.

"Services are currently diverted after Old Hill via the A39 Penryn by-pass and will then serve Penryn town in the opposite direction to normal before returning to normal route.

"This is likely to cause long delays with other traffic likely to do the same as the morning peak builds.

"Bear with us, we will as ever do our best!"

Motorists were warned to stay away, with part of the road closed (Image: Falmouth Packet)

Devon and Cornwall Police warned people living nearby to close their windows as the fire was emitting a significant amount of smoke.

D&C police are assisting colleagues from Cornwall Fire & Rescue at a report of a fire at Ponsharden Boatyard near Penryn. Please could residents near the boatyard close their windows as the fire is emitting a significant amount of smoke. D&C log 21 160524

— Devon & Cornwall Police (@DC_Police) May 16, 2024

When firefighters arrived the building was well alight, Falmouth crews made pumps five and aerial ladder platforms one.

Additional crews were mobilised from Tolvaddon, Helston, Newquay, Truro Community fire stations to assist, two officers were mobilised and also specialist vehicles from Perranporth and St Just community fire stations were mobilised.

What appears to be evidence of the fire (Image: Falmouth Packet)

Crews have now downscaled to three pumping appliances and were continuing to monitor the incident throughout the night.

As of 5:42am crews were still monitoring hotspots and the roads in the area of Ponsharden were closed due to appliances, crews and equipment in the highway. Devon & Cornwall Police are also in attendance.

The roads have since reopened.