Warning after cake sparklers set light to Manchester shisha bar

A shocking clip shows terrified customers fleeing for safety after indoor sparklers on a cake set roof decorations at a Manchester bar on fire - and burnt it down in a matter of minutes.

People can be seen racing to escape from a shisha bar in Rusholme after the sparklers set balloons and decorations on the ceiling alight.

The CCTV footage shows the moment the decorations catch fire, causing the blaze to flash across the ceiling as customers scramble to get out.

A number of people were taken to hospital suffering suspected burns, although fortunately no-one was seriously injured.

Footage released for the first time shows the moment the huge blaze was sparked inside the bar in Rusholme, Manchester, in May.

It followed a similar incident at Bar 186, in Manchester city centre on New Year’s Eve 2021 when a fire broke out after indoor fireworks set light to decorations in the bar.

Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) released the dramatic video footage of a fire in a shisha bar in a bid to prevent similar incidents in hospitality venues.

The film is being shared in advance of the busy Halloween, World Cup and Christmas party season to show how quickly fires can spread.

Fire chiefs said they wanted to encourage business owners and managers to attend online workshops for the hospitality sector.

Leon Parkes, of GMFRS, said: “Hospitality venues have a responsibility to keep their customers and staff safe.

“We want to help businesses to understand their legal responsibilities and take action to protect their property, staff and customers from fire.

“We have seen a couple of instances in the past year in Manchester where fires have broken out in venues caused by indoor fireworks setting light to decorations.

“While fortunately fires don’t occur very often, the impact of a fire can be devastating and many businesses don’t recover.

“Pubs, bars and other venues will be very, very busy during October, November and December.

“It’s important that staff prepare by getting trained in what they need to do and that they don’t inadvertently create a fire risk.”

Fire safety workshops

GMFRS has written out to over 3,000 hospitality premises providing them with advice about their legal responsibilities under the Fire Safety Order. A series of workshops are also planned to allow businesses to hear first-hand from Fire Safety and Licensing Officers and ask questions.

Further workshops are to be held on:

• 4 Oct, 1pm - 3pm
• 13 Oct, 10am - 12noon
• 20 Oct, 2pm- 4pm

Anyone who owns or manages a licensed or other hospitality business can sign up for the events via Eventbrite.