Residents evacuated as huge fire engulfs hospital in Surrey

Hundreds of people in Surrey have been evacuated from their homes after a huge blaze tore through a hospital building.

Residents living near the Weybridge Health Centre in Surrey sought refuge inside St James’ Parish Church after being instructed to leave their home in the aftermath of the huge blaze.

Witnesses say that the fire engulfed the building ‘extremely quickly’ after it began at approximately 11.45PM – several hours after the surgery closed.

Matt Leisegang, who was evacuated from his home roughly 100 metres from the blaze, recalled hearing a ‘loud bang’ and claimed that the top floor of the building was ‘engulfed’ with flames.

‘It was about 11.45pm when my wife woke me up and said there was a fire at the hospital’, he said.

‘We heard people shouting outside and went to look through the window. We saw what was happening and ran down to see if we could help.

‘That’s when I saw the left side of the roof was in flames already. Within about 15 minutes, the whole of the roof was alight.

‘The building is only three storeys, and the top floor was completely engulfed in flames within a short time – that was the remarkable thing, how quickly the fire spread. Within about 40 minutes of the fire, the whole of the top floor was gone. I could only see flames.’

He added: ‘We were asked by the emergency services to move back – there was a loud bang, an explosion from the gas canisters.

‘The firefighters have been brilliant, and I said to my wife that we should make some tea and sandwiches for them but we were told to evacuate before we could do anything.’

In a statement, Surrey Police confirmed there were no injuries.

‘A large number of residents have been evacuated. Roads around the building, including Weybridge High Street, have been closed and are likely to remain so for some time’, the statement said.

‘A large number of resources from Surrey Fire and Rescue Service are continuing to tackle the blaze, which is now under control. An investigation is under way to establish the cause of the fire which remains unknown at this time.’