Fareham and Southsea firefighters called as 3,000 film reels destroyed by blaze at Hampshire home cinema

Hampshire Fire and Rescue service said the outbuilding in Hill Lane, Southampton, ‘accidentally’ caught alight because of a nearby bonfire.

Alongside movie equipment, thousands of of reels of ‘highly flammable’ cine nitrate film were destroyed and the building’s roof collapsed.

The blaze sent thick plumes of smoke over neighbouring homes and crews urged residents to keep their windows shut.

Units from St Mary’s, Redbridge, Hightown, Eastleigh and Hythe all helped put the fire out after being called at about 6pm on Monday.

Their efforts continued through the night – until about 8am on Tuesday – when the incident was scaled down to three appliances.

They used 12 breathing apparatus, a main jet, a hose reel jet, compressed air foam and an ultra high pressure lance to extinguish the fire.

Group manager Mick Thompson said: ‘The fire involved a private collection of cine film of which the majority has been lost.

‘With our help the fire has burned itself out, which is why crews have been on the scene for an extended period of time.

‘From the very start this was a real team effort, and I cannot thank our firefighters enough for all the tireless hours they’ve put into resolving this incident.’

It is understood crews were called back to the scene last night and a stop message was finally sent at 8.14am today.

The incident was handed over to the owner of the property.