Police warn pedestrians to stay away from building gutted by fire

Police said the former Orchard County Hotel building is ‘dangerous’ having been ‘left pretty much gutted’ after the blaze on Sunday morning.

The PSNI said: “There is, as of now, still tape up across the footpath. Do NOT ignore this tape, as it is there to ensure no one gets too close until building control have confirmed that it is safe.

“If you ignore or take down police or fire cordon tape, you could be causing significant risk to others.

“Cross the road where the tape starts, and do not under any circumstances ‘go for a wee nosey’. It’s gutted, it smells, it’s dangerous- you’re not missing much.”

The building, which used to belong to the Cuppage family of Lurgan, went on fire at around 4.30am on Sunday morning.

The blaze raced through the building and quickly spread to the roof which was decimated.

In a major operation, appliances from Lurgan, Portadown, Dromore, Banbridge and a support unit from Lisburn were dispatched in a major operation which required 33 firefighters to stop the flames spreading to neighbouring buildings.

Aerial platforms from Belfast and Portadown also helped tackle the fire.

Upper Bann representatives, David Simpson MP and Carla Lockhart MLA praised the work of the emergency services.

Upper Bann MP David Simpson said: “I have been in contact with the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service who worked hard to tackle the blaze and are now assessing the structural damage of the building and surrounding properties.

“The scale of fire was significant and we must allow the emergency services time to carry it their investigations.

“I would like to pay tribute to our emergency services who were on the scene quickly and dealt with the blaze efficiently.”