Club Inferno: Gatecrasher Burns Down in Sheffield

Sheffield super-club Gatecrasher has been destroyed in a huge fire which engulfed the building on Monday evening.

The club, formerly known as Republic, was housed in a two storey 100 year old warehouse on Eyre Street in the city.

Around 25 fire-fighters tackled the blaze which resulted in part of the building later collapsing and several roads in the vicinity being closed.

Steve Makepeace, a spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "There is lots of foams, plastics . . . lights, alcohol, you name it - everything that wants to burn is in that building."

Crowds gathered at the scene to watch the blaze as plumes of smoke spread across the city centre.

Yesterday (18 June) at approximately 1700 our nightclub in Sheffield,
Gatecrasher One, caught fire. The club was not open to the public at
the time and only several members of staff were inside. The club was
immediately evacuated, as per our fire procedures and no-one was
injured or hurt. It is with sadness that we inform you that the
building collapsed a few hours later.



The fire service was called immediately the fire was found and
arrived on the scene within minutes. At this time we have no
confirmation as to the cause of the fire and we are working with fire
investigation officers to determine how it started.



Simon Raine, Managing Director of Gatecrasher, said: "True to our
own motto of "Never Stand Still" we will be moving forward to scope out
how we put on our planned club nights in Sheffield during the summer.
We will be looking to continue all CRASHER and Hed Kandi nights planned
in Sheffield during Summer 2007 at a venue to be confirmed.


"We will also be looking at how we rebuild the Gatecrasher One
club, one of the cornerstones of the UK nightclub scene and our
spiritual home, as quickly as possible. We want everyone to remember
all those memorable nights at Gatecrasher One from down the years, safe
in the knowledge that it will be back…bigger, brighter, louder and more
brash - it will always be with you."



Gatecrasher's 14th birthday celebrations in September will also be
going ahead. Other Gatecrasher venues in Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham
and Watford are not affected by the fire in Sheffield.


Following a multi-million summer makeover Media by Gatecrasher in
Nottingham will reopen as Gatecrasher Nottingham on September 6. Fresh
on the success of the sell-out Gatecrasher Summer Sound System during
Bank Holiday weekend in May we will be releasing the album from the
legendary weekend at the end of June, which will be accompanied by a
series of global tours.



Further announcements on the rebuild of Gatecrasher One will be made in due course.