Dante Festival to go ahead despite workshop blaze at city racecourse

Plumes of black smoke could clearly be seen billowing into the York skyline from the famous racecourse yesterday morning as firefighters tackled a fire inside a building which is part of workshops used by ground staff and which is on the outskirts of the famous course.

Yesterday staff at the racecourse stressed it is still planning to open to the public next week for the staging of the Dante Festival.

Ground staff are believed to have spotted the fire at 9.40am and raised the alarm.

James Brennan, head of marketing at the racecourse, said the affected building was on the perimeter of the racecourse.

He said: “There has been a fire in a perimeter building here at the racecourse. There was no threat to life and nobody was injured.

“The building is part of the workshops that our ground staff use.”

He said the affected building was away from facilities used by racegoers.

Mr Brennan added: “The racing next week is not affected, racing goes ahead exactly as normal starting on Wednesday the 14th.

“Its the very first meeting of the year on Wednesday,” Mr Brennan added yesterday.

Fire crews were called at 9.45am yesterday to the fire and by just after 11am North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said the fire at Knavesmire had been extinguished.

A spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said fire crews from York, Acomb and Huntington attended the blaze a brick building used for storage,

As fire crews tackled the blaze serious damage to the roof of the building could clearly be 
seen.

When crews arrived they found the building well alight but by 11.10am the fire had been extinguished and crews were damping down at the scene.

The cause of yesterday morning’s fire is not yet known.