Business Owners Worry Kirkgate Fire Could Destroy Livelihood
Say their livelihood could be destroyed - if their workshop collapses following the huge fire on Kirkgate.
The blaze tore through Hills Furnishing Store on Friday 9 November, with parts of Call Lane shut for the rest of the evening.
Fire crews managed to prevent flames spreading through the adjoining wall to Fabrication - a textile and metal work business - but now the owners face a nervous wait to find out whether that wall will need to come down, taking their workshop with it.
"We've been asked to evacuate for the foreseeable future," says Dawn Wood, who runs Fabrication with her husband Andrew.
"They just don't know how unsafe this building will be. It's obviously incredibly worrying that we can't do any work for a week. We've just had to contact all our clients around the country to say orders might not happen.
"If it does go we will have to try and find another workshop, which isn't easy because there aren't many affordable places for textile workshops around Leeds. I tried not to cry on the contractor's shoulder!
"I've been doing this for thirty years, this is what I do and what I am. Yes you get insurance, but it doesn't cover the next however many years of your working life."
Fashion designer Dawn makes costumes and clothing, while Andrew does metal work and even supplies buttons and belt buckles to the Royal family. He has also crafted specialist items for films, including a mask for one of the Star Wars movies.
The couple moved into the building on Kirkgate eight years ago, and use it to make items which they sell from a shop in The Light shopping centre.
"We're a bit shell-shocked," says Dawn. "We're literally just waiting. When it's your own business, it's as if you are losing your house. Because you are it.
"I was talking to the sister of the chap who managed Hills and he's worked there since he was 16. That's been his life, you know? What does he do now? It's just devastating. There's 14 independent businesses in this little area that could have gone up.
"There is no where for us to go. If it's a big corporate that burns down, people still get a big pay packet and they can relocate. When it's a specialist business you can't possibly quantify how much money comes through the door each month. Andrew makes things for the Queen and for films and he just can't do that now. It's very specialist."
The building is thought to date back to the 17th century, and the fire has revealed hidden alleyways and cellars which Dawn says made it very difficult for the fire brigade to understand the layout of the building.
Eight pumps were on the scene after being called out at around 4.30pm. Investigations into the fire are ongoing but police say the cause is not thought to be suspicious at this stage.