A POTENTIALLY serious fire was started at a youth club in a cupboard containing a box of paint in aerosol cans.
Firefighters were called to an automatic fire alarm at the Pioneer Club in Heathlands Drive, St Albans, just before 1pm yesterday (Monday) afternoon and arrived to find that two groups inside the building at the time had been evacuated.
On investigating the premises, the firefighters from St Albans fire station noticed a smell of burning and discovered a blaze within an electrical monitoring cupboard underneath the stairs, which was being used to store flammable items including a box containing 27 volatile cans of spray paint.
The firefighters, wearing breathing apparatus, quickly managed to put out the flames and avoid any of the chemicals overheating and exploding, before leaving an hour later.
A St Albans firefighter said that had they not arrived so promptly the fire could have quite easily got out of hand and caused extensive damage to the building.
The blaze is thought to have been started deliberately.
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