17/08/2026
Last night, we came very close to losing our gym.
A fire was started in bins next to one of the units at Sugar Mill. It quickly spread to the wall and roof of the empty unit directly beside us and was beginning to move towards the roof of our gym.
We were extremely lucky.
A few of our lads were training inside at the time. They heard and smelled the fire, immediately realised something was wrong and raised the alarm. Because of their quick reaction, the fire brigade arrived in time to stop the fire before it could spread further.
I cannot thank these lads enough. Their actions may have saved not only our gym, but also the neighbouring businesses and potentially prevented something much more serious. Most importantly, they were themselves in a dangerous situation and still reacted exactly as they should.
To me, they are the heroes of our gym and Sugar Mill. ππ»ππ»
There are residential homes directly behind the site, so it is frightening to think how serious this could have become if the fire had continued unnoticed.
Thankfully, nobody was hurt. The damage to our gym is relatively minor, and we have already started cleaning up and putting things back together. We plan to be back doing what we do very soon. πͺπ»
We had a huge amount of luck in a very bad situation.
It is deeply disappointing that something so dangerous appears to have started through the actions of young people entering the site without permission. They may not have understood the possible consequences of what they were doing, but that does not make those consequences any less serious. What happened could have destroyed businesses, homes and, most importantly, could have cost lives.
There must be consequences, and I trust that the appropriate authorities will deal with that.
For now, I am simply grateful.
Grateful to the lads who reacted so quickly.
Grateful to the firefighters who stopped it in time.
And grateful that today we are cleaning up our gym rather than mourning something far worse.
We will be back. ππ»π₯ππ»
