Royal Iris ferry in Woolwich suffers fire
A fire on board the Royal iris ferry in Woolwich has seen the vessel gutted.
The boat has been in terrible shape for years with the main image above taken back in 2019.
According to London Fire Brigade six fire engines and 40 firefighters tackled the fire yesterday having been called at 4:16pm. They state:
“Approximately half of the boat was alight. Firefighters have now brought the fire under control but crews are likely to remain on scene for some time to put out the fire fully.
“Due to the remote location of the fire, a water relay system was required as part of firefighting operations. The appliances were stationed between the incident site and the nearest water hydrant, and then connected together by hose. This allowed crews to pump a constant supply of water to the scene of the fire.
“The Brigade was called at 1616 and Control Officers mobilised crews from East Greenwich, Forest Hill, Poplar, New Cross and Deptford fire stations to the scene, alongside two fire rescue units. One of the Brigade’s fire boats also assisted with extinguishing the fire and a 32-metre turntable ladder was deployed as an observation tower to help provide the Incident Commander with a greater situational awareness of the fire.
“The fire was brought under control by 1900.”
No cause for the blaze has yet been announced with an investigation underway.
The ferry plied its trade in Merseyside having been built for in 1950.
It ended up in Woolwich near the Thames Barrier where it’s been slowly decaying for some years.
