WHITCHURCH Leisure Centre was thrown in to chaos on Tuesday evening when the sauna went up in flames.
Staff have been praised for their quick reactions which helped contain the fire and prevent a disaster.
The timber frame of the electrically heated sauna caught fire after it had been switched on to heat up.
The alarm was raised by leisure centre staff member Chris Rogers who used a fire extinguisher to battle the blaze before calling the emergency services.
“We had to pull apart the timber structure, so it made a real mess of the sauna,” said sub officer Mike Beach.
“Smoke went in to other parts of the building like the gym, but that probably won’t cause any lasting damage. We’re not treating the fire as suspicious.’
Ray Hatton of Sir John Talbot’s Technology College praised Chris Rogers for helping to contain the fire.
“Thankfully it wasn’t worse, and that is due in a large part to the prompt action of Chris Rogers,” said Mr Hatton. “We had to shut the leisure centre for sports that evening.
“But we decided the show must go on for Flicks in the Sticks, as a lot of people had pre-booked their tickets and we didn’t want to disappoint them.”
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