Blackburn family evacuated during grandad’s cremation after huge fire breaks out at Pleasington Crematorium

A woman has spoke of the surreal moment her grandad’s cremation was interrupted by a fire and loved ones were asked to evacuate the site.

Brian Whittaker was due to be cremated at Pleasington Crematorium this morning (June 8) only for the service to be abruptly halted when the huge blaze broke out on the grounds. Eight fire engines were called to the crematorium and the building evacuated at around 11.30am.

Brian’s granddaughter Christine Dearden told LancsLive of the surreal moment when she noticed flames outside the window. She said: “We were sat there and we could hear this crackling noise. At first I thought ‘is someone eating sweets at my grandad’s funeral?’.

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“I looked to the left and could see these big flames. It was quite difficult concentrate for about five minutes and then someone had to come and tell us to leave. I was like ‘well yeah, there is a big fire there to be fair’.”

Eight fire engines were sent to the scene, while smoke could be seen far and wide around the site. Around 20 to 30 people were thought to be inside at the time and the family then gathered outside for a little while before being told the service would have to be rearranged for another day.

As part of the response, Martin Eden, strategic director of Environment & Operations at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, visited to assess the situation and offer his condolences, although Christine said she personally did not see him.

Brian was taken back to his funeral home and Christine was full of praise for those who quickly and carefully managed the surreal incident. With the wake already booked and arranged, they decided to carry on as they otherwise would have done. Christine said her grandad was not affected in any way and that the fire did not come near to where they were in the building.

“My grandad would have been fuming that we had to do it all again,” she joked. “It’s just one of them, it can’t be helped. There’s no anger or upset – we’ve been laughing about it because what else can you do?”

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