Garden centre vows ‘business as usual’ after early morning blaze

Credit: Harvey Waters

A Calderdale-based retailer has opened for custom today – 19 July – despite a fire breaking out at its premises in the early hours of this morning.

Gordon Rigg Garden, Home & Leisure, in Todmorden, said the blaze started at about 5.15am in a store room and was caused by what is believed to have been an overheating fridge.

A spokesman for the firm, a long-established retailer which also has a base in Rochdale, said: “Thankfully this happened before any staff were in the garden centre and it only spread to our storage and signs office before it was contained by the fire department who arrived very quickly.

“Thank you to both West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service and Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Service who worked brilliantly to put the fire out before it spread to the main garden centre, we are very grateful for their hard work.

“We have been in business 77 years and this fire certainly won’t be the end of us. The question now is what shall we build in its place to continue to grow our beloved garden centre.”

A West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service spokesman confirmed six fire engines responded to the incident, with crews using breathing apparatus and hose reels to tackle the flames.

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