Firefighters attended a deliberate fire in Beeston Library, Foster Avenue.
Two firefighters entered the building wearing breathing apparatus and used one high-pressure hose reel and a thermal imaging camera to stop the fire from spreading.
A fire investigation determined that the fire was deliberate, and a joint investigation with Nottinghamshire Police is underway.
Station Manager for Prevention, Dan Palmer, said:
“We take deliberate fire setting very seriously at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and work hard to discourage the behaviour.
“We will always be there for our communities when you are in need, but not only do deliberate fires put people at risk, they take us away from other emergencies.
“If you know any information about deliberate fire setting in your community, I strongly encourage you to report it anonymously to FireStoppers on 0800 169 5558.”
Chief Exec of Inspire, Peter Gaw, said:
“Everyone at Inspire is saddened about the fire in Beeston Library which we now understand was started deliberately in the customer toilet upstairs.
“However, we are very relieved that no one was hurt in the incident and that the damage was limited to the toilet, with a small amount of water coming through the ceiling to the ground floor in a corner of our café area. Thankfully our book stock was not damaged.
“The Beeston team swung straight into the action to clean the library to open the ground floor to visitors after just a few days with very little disruption to our core service.
“We apologise that in the short term, we will have no customer toilets, some events and activities may be affected and study space reduced.
“We are now working with our partners at Nottinghamshire County Council on additional cleaning required upstairs and the works required on the toilet.
“Thank you to the Fire Service for their prompt response and to the community – it is lovely to know how special the library is to many of you!”
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