Ocado fire leads to homes being evacuated
A fire at Ocado’s customer fulfilment centre in Andover has resulted in the evacuation of homes in the surrounding area.
The decision was made after firefighters feared there could be toxic gas leak or explosion.
After starting on Tuesday, the fire took a “dramatic turn” on Wednesday and has seen more than 200 firefighters working to bring it under control.
In statement issued this morning, Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “Work has continued overnight to control the Ocado fire in Andover. We’re working to remove the toxic chemicals from the site and are hoping to stand down the evacuation zone later this morning. We’ll update with the ongoing progress our crews are making as we know more.”
The fire is understood to have started in a corner of the facility’s ambient grid. Yesterday Ocado said that that no members of the Ocado team or the public had been injured and expressed its thanks to the emergency services.
The Andover site provides around 10% of Ocado’s current capacity. The incident caused Ocado’s share price to drop yesterday as the retailer announced that it would impact sales growth.
Ocado said: “As a result of this incident there will be a constraint on our ability to meet our growing customer demand and there will be a reduction in sales growth until we can increase capacity elsewhere. Ocado has comprehensive insurance for the property, stock and equipment on site, and for business interruption losses.”
