Staff from fire-hit B&M store transferred to new York shop
The staff at a store destroyed by fire will be transferred to another branch.
In their first public comment since the intense blaze which tore through the B&M Clifton Moor outlet, managers said the workers would be moved to their new store at Foss Islands.
A B&M spokeswoman told YorkMix:
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Our York store at Clifton Moor Retail Park was safely evacuated on Saturday afternoon following a fire.
We’re grateful for the emergency services teams who worked through the night to extinguish the fire.
Unfortunately the store was severely damaged. We’re now working closely with the landlords to assess the next steps.
All colleagues will be temporarily transferred to our new store on Foss Island Retail Park.
Cause still uncertain
A spokeswoman said investigations into the cause are ongoing, and “no cause has been established at this time”.
She added: “There is a likely to be a smell of smoke in the area for some time, so local residents and businesses may still want to keep doors and windows closed.”
The service also commented on the controversy over refreshments for the crews who spent the afternoon and night fighting the fire.
This followed the story that McDonald’s refused to give the firefighters free drinks.
It led to questions as to whether the service was providing enough drinks for its staff. In a statement, the brigade said:
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North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has a welfare unit which provides refreshments to our firefighters at large incidents and this (welfare unit) did attend the incident at Clifton Moor, York on Saturday evening.
The service takes the welfare of staff at incidents seriously and does not have a policy of requesting free refreshments from other businesses.
We would like to thank the members of the public and local businesses for their patience and assistance during this incident, particularly as we needed to close the A1237.
We have no comment to make on the statements made on social media by members of the public, about McDonalds.