St Mary's fire: Photos show demolition of warehouse

On March 6, residents of Southampton saw a gigantic plume of smoke tower over St Mary's after a warehouse on Melbourne Street caught fire.

The plumes could be seen from across Southampton (Image: NQ) The blaze was so immense that it took more than 100 firefighters to bring it under control and a plume of smoke could be seen from as far away as Romsey and the New Forest.

Southampton FC were set to take on Preston North End in a Championship match – but Preston fans were told to turn around and head for home as the game was cancelled for health and safety reasons.

More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze (Image: NQ) Since the fire, a pile of rubble has been left on the site while plans were made for a demolition to take place.

For three months the pile of twisted metal and brick has laid dormant, an eyesore next to one of the city's most iconic landmarks and home to its football team.

READ MORE: Forty firefighters tackle scrap blaze for second night

On Wednesday, June 26, demolition teams finally moved in on the site and the clear-up began.

The aftermath of the fire (Image: Sam Coleman) As of Wednesday, more than half of the warehouse has been completely demolished and the remaining rubble is being piled up in order to be taken away.

Leon Gill, crew manager of Green Watch, the team on shift at St Mary’s Fire Station at the time of the fire, previously told the Echo: "I thought to myself, 'That's a big fire - one of the biggest I have seen, in terms of size and intensity in the short amount of time'.

“The first question in my mind was ‘Is there anyone in there'? Our first point of contact was a police officer at the scene, and he told us everyone had been evacuated from the building.

"So we had to act on a more defensive mode and stand outside hosing into the fire."

It is not currently clear what is planned at the warehouse site, once the demolition has been complete.