25 powerful images of major Blackpool fires which have darkened the skies through the years

By far one of the most devastating blazes in living memory was Yates’s Wine Lodge in 2009.

The inferno was estimated to have cost £20 million, as well as robbing Blackpool as part of its heritage - and killing more than 100 animals in a neighbouring pet shop.

Mike Senior was the last DJs to play at Yates. He said:“Couldn’t believe I left at 2am just as normal and in the morning it was gone!” Back in the 1960’s Blackpool’s famous RHO Hills department store was devastated by fire and the Fun House at Blackpool Pleasure Beach - still widely talked about and missed.

These pictures reflect just some of many major blazes which darkened Blackpool skies through the years.

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