The fire broke out just after 3am on Sunday, 15 February in the vicinity of a pet shop on Talbot Street, opposite the North Pier. It went on to engulf Yates’s Wine Lodge, one of Blackpool’s landmark buildings, which has been virtually destroyed. The octagonal building which originally opened in 1868 as The Theatre Royal, where Oscar Wilde entertained audiences, was purchased at the end of the nineteenth century by Peter Yates to be established as a wine lodge and a favourite watering hole of celebrities and politicians. During the last year Yates’s has been the subject of a major refurbishment by its current owners.

At its height almost 100 firefighters and 15 appliances were in attendance, until the blaze was brought under control about seven hours later. A major loss team headed by Harris Balcombe Partner, Paul Lawrence and local Director, Adrian Gilluly is now liaising closely with Certo Loss Adjusters representing insurers, to manage the owner's multi-million pound losses.