London Fire Brigade battle fiery blaze at Specialized UK headquarters

The London Fire Brigade confirmed that it took four hours to control a fiery blaze at the Specialized UK headquarters at the weekend. The fire was reported at 6.38 p.m. on Saturday, February 6, and the crew declared it under control four hours later at 10:25 p.m. 

“Last night, we were notified that a fire had affected our UK headquarters in Chessington," Specialized UK head of marketing, Kirsty Woodcock, told Cycling Weekly (opens in new tab). "Thankfully, no one was hurt, but sadly the fire has had a devastating effect to our offices. There will be some short-term changes to certain business operations, but our warehouse is located elsewhere and riders should not be concerned.”

There were no reported injuries and the cause of the fire is currently under investigation by the Brigade’s Fire Investigation Unit and the Metropolitan Police Service.

The London Fire Brigade issued a press statement (opens in new tab) confirming that twelve fire engines and around eighty firefighters tackled a fire at Barwell Business Park on Leatherhead Road in Chessington on Saturday night, also noting that a warehouse unit was destroyed by the blaze. 

“Fire crews arrived to find a well-developed fire and worked hard to bring it under control in what was a protracted incident. There was thick smoke issuing across the business park."

This is the second incident that the Speciailzed brand has faced after it had $160,000 worth of employee and historical bikes stolen from its global headquarters in Morgan Hill, California. Morgan Hill Police Department confirmed that two vehicles were used in that robbery, which happened during daylight hours on Saturday, December 12.