AT LEAST ten fire engines are in attendance to a large blaze at a leisure centre.
Crews were called to Copthorne Road in Crawley this morning around 7.20am.
The road is closed in both directions from the Wyevale Garden Centre to the Copthorne Hotel roundabout.
There were initially ten fire engines at the scene, but an update at 8.55am confirmed that West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (WSFRS) had 17 vehicles in attendance, including five specialist vehicles.
Around 100 firefighters have been in attendance at the leisure centre, which is near the Copthorne Hotel.
Two platforms have been used to spray water into the building from above, according to the fire service.
A WSFRS spokeswoman said: “At 7.22am we were called to a fire at Acorn Health and Leisure in Copthorne Road, Crawley.
“So far, we have crews from Crawley, Salfords, Reigate, Godstone, the aerial ladder platform from Horsham, two water carriers from Burgess Hill and Petworth, the control unit from Haywards Heath, and a high volume pump from East Sussex Fire and Rescue.”
Dave Bray, area manager for WSFRS, said: "At 7.22am this morning, we received 20 calls in very short succession to the Copthorne Hotel in Crawley.
"We have 14 fire engines and approximately 100 firefighters on scene currently. We are dealing with a fire in a leisure facility which is attached to the hotel.
"The building is fortunately remote so it's not touching the main building, so we have been able to surround the fire so it's not spreading to the main hotel complex.
"We're using two aerial ladder platforms to operate as water towers to put large quantities of water into the building from above.
"There have been no injuries, no members of the public were involved."
Another update at 5.30pm confirmed that crews will be staying overnight.
A spokeswoman said: “This is a prolonged incident and we expect to be on scene for some time, including overnight at a reduced level for monitoring purposes.
"We have already scaled back the number of crews and now have seven pumps, two Aerial Ladder Platforms, a water carrier and the Command Unit in attendance.”
Acorns Gym has been approached for comment.
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