Fire and police investigators are trying to find out how a fire started in a historic building on Hove seafront – and who started it.
Firefighters from East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service tackled the blaze at Medina House in King’s Esplanade on Friday (31 May).
Detectives from Sussex Police began work with their counterparts from East Sussex Fire and Rescue late on Friday afternoon looking into the fire which is believed to have been started deliberately.
A sofa in a first floor room is believed to have been the seat of the fire.
The old Victorian public baths have long been in a state of disrepair, with enforcement action having been taken last year by Brighton and Hove City Council.
The property’s owner, Sirus Taghan, has submitted a number of planning applications to redevelop the site since he bought in the 1990s.
But planners have rejected most of his schemes as too tall and overbearing.
Fuller reports about the fire and planning issues relating to the site can be found here and here on the website of the campaign group Save Hove.
I looked there again this evening, as I did on Friday. I see that the electricity wire has now been cut below the pavement. And labelled “keep clear – danger”. I gather that the building has a new owner.
Thank you for the two links in the article here. Between both articles on the saveHOVE website is a 3rd tiny one with two photos a resident took of the dug-up pavement and exposed electrical cable Christopher Hawtree refers to. It is a worrying development that seems to imply there are now issues with the wiring into Medina House in the wake of the fire.
It would be nice to know what the extent of the interior damage was.