Devastating fire which gutted Newport city centre building in Upper Dock Street was 'deliberate caused'

The Windsor Castle pub, found next door to the building affected by the fire, has also been damaged.

Owner Chris Jarvis told the Argus that while the building suffered no direct fire damage, its upper floors suffered smoke damage as the fire raged on.

"I got a phone call at 3.30am to say that my pub was on fire so I set off straight away," he said.

"I think we got away with it and we very lucky considering how big the fire was next door."

The kitchen and ladies bathroom on the ground floor was flooded but pub's staff managed to clear most of the damage.

Mr Jarvis added: "They worked all day yesterday scrubbing and cleaning bless them, they did a superb job."

"We had to close on the day of the fire but we reopened the bar today and will reopen a kitchen for a limited service on Saturday."

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A FIRE which raged throughout the early morning hours in Newport has been confirmed as 'deliberate' by the fire officials.

A spokesman for South Wales Fire Rescue Service (SWFRS) told the Argus that the blaze was a result of a "deliberate ignition".

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said a criminal investigation has been launched into the fire.

Emergency services rushed to the fire, which consumed the upper floors of a three-storey building in Upper Dock Street, at around 3am on Thursday morning.

The first crews arrived to find the empty commercial building well-alight but managed to confine the blaze to the affected area.

The fire captures at its peak on Thursday morning. Picture: Lois Wallbank

At the fire’s peak, up to 35 firefighters worked to tackle the blaze while other fire personnel – with the help of Gwent Police – sealed off the roads in and around the building.

Precautionary evacuations were also carried out in nearby buildings by responding police officers.

Later in the morning it was confirmed by (SWFRS) that the first and second floors had been “fully destroyed” by the “serious” fire.

Fire investigation officers also found that the external structure of the building, which houses a Lifestyle Express and a vaporizer and phone shop on the ground floor, remains intact.

While nobody had been inside at the time of the blaze, the fire has “devastated” the owner of Vapour Zest, who had been only been trading from the premises for under a year.

Umar Mahmood said that he will have to “start from scratch” following the blaze and told the Argus that he has lost stock worth up to £40,000 that had been kept on the gutted upper floors.

The 22-year-old added that it had cost him a further around £10,000 to refurbish his ground floor unit when he took over. “It’s just heart-breaking, it’s my livelihood and I’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Mr Mahmood.

“I’ve been told by the fire service that the shop is water damaged from the hoses so I don’t know what I can do now.

“It’s gut-wrenching, as a young business owner I’ve put hard effort, time and commitment into building something from the ground up.

“I wanted to get use this as a stepping stone to get somewhere but now I’m back to square one.”

Mr Mahmood said that the first and second storeys of the building had also been used by community groups.

Closures on Skinner Street and Upper Dock Street remained in place will into the afternoon while crews dampened down the fire.

Services from the nearby Newport bus station were also affected by the police cordon, with buses having to be diverted throughout the day.

According to the firm’s Twitter account, the bus station was closed for some time while emergency services attended the scene.

South Wales Fire and Rescue Service confirmed crews left the scene at 1.50pm and the road opened shortly after.

A Gwent Police spokeswoman said: "At approximately 3:05am on Thursday the 24th of August 2017 we received reports of a large fire on Upper Dock Street, near to Windsor Castle in Newport.

"On arrival crews from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service were faced with a well-developed fire at the three storey, non-residential building.

The fire had spread quickly causing significant damage to the structure of the building.

"Once firefighters had the fire under control, an initial joint assessment by Fire Investigators and Crime Scene Investigators took place and resulted in the fire being treated as suspicious.

"A criminal investigation has commenced and officers are asking anyone with information to please call 101 quoting log number 48 24/08/17."