Large fire devastates small Kirkby businesses as buildings destroyed

Several small businesses in Kirkby in Ashfield are continuing to pick up the pieces this morning (Monday) after a large fire ripped through their premises over the weekend. Fire crews from Nottinghamshire and neighbouring Derbyshire fought for several hours to bring the blaze under control, but they were unable to save a number of buildings in the Urban Road Business Park, opposite Kirkby railway station.

One of the businesses affected is the popular LockDown Tackle and Bait store, which supplied fishing equipment for anglers. LockDown was set up in November 2021 by business partners Steven Droushiotis, 39, and Mark Smith, 42.

On Saturday, the two said that they were “deeply saddened” by the “devastating news” as they thanked the community for “standing with us”.

“Our livelihood went up in flames, and we are heartbroken by this unexpected tragedy”, they said in a post on the company’s Facebook page. “The Fire Brigade is currently investigating the cause of the fire to understand how this occurred.

“We want to thank everyone for their support and patience during this challenging time.  We will keep you updated as we learn more and plan our next steps.”

Another small business impacted by the fire was CabournsCarpentry, which was opened by Sarah Cabourn, 28, and Jack Cabourn, 29, in December 2020. The business hand makes bespoke furniture using timber sourced from a local reclamation timber yard

“Last night our absolute worst nightmare came true”, they said on Saturday. “Our workshop was completely destroyed in a fire, we have lost absolutely everything. Our workspace, tens of thousands of pounds worth of materials, stock, tools and equipment that we have amassed over the last four years.

“We are absolutely devastated. This business has been our livelihood for the last four years and now we are going to have to start from scratch.

“We are going to work as hard as we possibly can to get up and running again as soon as possible. We are hoping to have a temporary workspace set up over the next couple of weeks to get some of your furniture made and sent out. For the time being we have stopped taking on new orders to focus our current wait list.”

They say that they are working to get ordered furniture to customers “with as little delay as possible”, but are asking for patience. “We will contact all customers who have items on order directly over the next couple of days once we have a better idea of what our plan of action is.”

The couple described the fire as “one of the toughest things we’ve ever had to go through”, and warned people to check their insurance – revealing that theirs had lapsed a few months ago.

“We’d like to say another huge thank you to the police and fire department who put all their efforts into every aspect of this tragedy and were so compassionate towards us”, they said, adding: “We’d like to extend our thoughts to the other businesses affected by the fire, the fishing tackle shop next door to us was also completely destroyed and others suffered significant fire and smoke damage.”

Nottingham Fire and Rescue service initially sent six fire engines, an aerial ladder platform and a water carrier to the fire. A crew was still on site on Saturday morning damping down the remains. Fire investigators also visited the site on Saturday.

“We received a call to reports of a fire in an industrial unit on Urban Road in Kirkby in Ashfield at 9.43 pm on Friday 28 June”, a spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said this morning (Monday).

“At its height we had crews from Ashfield, Mansfield, Hucknall, Edwinstowe, Alfreton, Aerial ladder platform from Mansfield, Water carrier from Worksop and command support vehicle from Derbyshire.

“The fire investigation is still on-going to determine the cause and there were no reports of any injuries.”