On Thursday 12th March 2020, Homespares and Adboards experienced a devastating warehouse fire.

Fire fighters were called around 6:55pm on Thursday evening. When they got to the site, the fire was well established and the warehouse roof had already started collapse.

10.30pm Update from Greater Manchester Fire Service

Firefighters are working hard to tackle a fire at an industrial estate on Thicketford Road in Bolton this evening (Thursday 12 March).

Crews were first called to the scene 6.55pm and there are currently five fire engines and an aerial appliance in attendance. At the peak of the incident we had ten fire engines in attendance.

Firefighters are tackling the incident in two sectors, surrounding the fire to contain any spread.

Station Manager Mike Branney said: "Our crews are working extremely hard to extinguish this fire and are expected to remain at the incident for a number of hours.

"We are urging local residents to avoid the area and to keep windows and doors shut if they live nearby.

"There is a road closure in place and we are working with Greater Manchester Police to minimise the impact of this and open the road as soon as possible.

"I’d like to praise the hard work of our crews dealing with this fire."

Within minutes of the news being released via social media and through our staff, the majority of our employees came down to show their support. It was great to see that everyone came together as the Homespares/Adboards family combined and support each other.

Friday 13th March 9am update from Greater Manchester Fire Service

This incident has now been scaled back to four fire engines and one aerial appliance. Firefighters successfully prevented the spread of the fire to other premises.

Two sectors are still in use and damping down is in progress.

Road closures have been lifted and access is being facilitated for neighbouring businesses, most of which are open.

2pm update from Greater Manchester Fire Service

After 19 hours spent tackling a fire at an industrial estate on Thicketford Road in Bolton, two fire engines and one aerial appliance remain on scene.

A contractor is on site removing parts of the collapsed structure to allow firefighters to continue fighting the remaining pockets of fire from above.

Fire investigators have arrived at the site and begun their investigation.

It is expected that crews will remain on scene for the rest of the day to ensure that the area is made safe.

Residents are advised to keep windows and doors closed and to avoid the area.

Since the devastating fire in our warehouse, our team has been working extremely hard to get the company back on its feet. We have located to new offices – we are still in Bolton!

Our sales and customer services teams are fully operative to assist you with any queries.

We as a Homespares family, would like to thank our customers, suppliers and staff for their words of support, encouragement and understanding during this difficult time. A big shout out goes out to Huws Gray and The Lock Up, who helped us out in the days after the fire.

Once we have any more information we will inform you, you can stay connected with us through our social media platforms.

Please allow us the forthcoming weeks and months to get operations back up to speed so we can continue to service you, our customer.

Once again, we can only apologise for recent events and factors that were beyond our control.