Blaze At Surrey Theme Park
The Chessington World of Adventures Resort in Surrey has been closed for the day after a fire started at a restaurant near a zoo.
The theme park was not open to the public when emergency crews were alerted at 9am and no people or animals were injured, London Fire Brigade said.
It had been due to open at 10am for a “festive zoo day” according to its website, but a decision was made to shut the site.
Eight fire engines were called to the scene of the blaze at the Creaky Cafe and firefighters later managed to bring it under control.
Fire station manager Craig Carter said the blaze “affected a large part” of the restaurant.
He added: “There were a lot of flames and the area was quite smoky when we arrived.”
Flames at the Theme Park
All animals in the zoo were evacuated to a safe place, said the fire service.
The park posted a message on Twitter saying: “Due to unforeseen circumstances Chessington will be closed today.”
“If you had tickets booked for today, they will be valid for another day in the future.”
A company statement said: “This morning, prior to the park opening, a fire broke out in Chessington World of Adventures.”
“Well-practised emergency procedures were immediately put into operation and the emergency services were called and several fire engines were on site within minutes.”
“The theme park and zoo were closed at the time of this incident and, therefore, no guests were involved. All staff areas were immediately evacuated and all staff and animals are safe and well.”
An investigation will be carried out to discover the cause of the fire.
Surrey Police had said people should avoid the area around the park as the A243 was closed – but it was later fully re-opened to traffic.
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