People were reportedly "seen running" from a former school moments before it went up in flames completely.
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) received a 999 call at around 7.45pm on Friday, July 1, reporting a fire at the former Margaret Beavan School on Almonds Green in West Derby. Six fire engines and an aerial appliance arrived at the scene just five minutes later and found the four storey building well alight.
Dozens of firefighters got to work tackling the blaze, with MFRS making the decision not to send anyone into the building itself due to known structural issues inside. A second aerial appliance arrived at the scene a short time later and was being used as a water pump to get the flames under control.
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Flames reached meters in the air and could be seen over the tops of mature trees surrounding the school. Smoke also completely covered Almonds Green, with eyewitnesses telling The ECHO they could hardly see the end of their own street.
Merseyside Police had to close one lane of traffic on Muirhead Avenue with a fire hose being stretched from the derelict school to a fire hydrant near the junction of Lorenzo Drive.
One witness, who lives on the road, said there is "nothing but trouble" in the derelict school and that they allegedly saw two people "running" away from the derelict building before the fire started.
They said: "I saw two people running along the road earlier tonight and didn't think anything of it, then I started hearing sirens it must have been about 20 or 30 minutes later. I came out and saw the smoke coming from the school."
Another eyewitness added “There’s always trouble at the school with people going in. There’s been loads of fires here but this is by far the worst.
"It’s so sad to see it happening again, something really needs to be done about this."
Campaigner and local historian Jonathon Wild has previously drawn attention to the sorry state of the former school. He said: "Its very sad to hear about it. I have campaigned on this building as well as campaigning for Sandfield Tower. How many fires will it take for the powers that be to secure our abandoned buildings once and for all?
"It's one of James Frances Doyle’s finest designs with its original interior and ornate fireplaces. I have campaigned heavily to have this building recognised and restored since it was sold in to private hands from Liverpool City Council."
A structural engineer was requested to attend the scene by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, but due to the size of the cordon and the height of trees surrounding the school, the extent of the damage was not visible to our ECHO reporter.
Station Manager Nick McCormack, Incident Commander on scene from MFRS, said: "This is an extremely challenging and complex incident. Firefighters are working tirelessly and are making good progress in suppressing the fire.
"Firefighting continues and we expect to have a presence overnight. I would like to thank residents nearby for their cooperation whilst we deal with this incident.
"We will continue to work with multi-agency partners throughout the remainder of this incident to end it as quickly and with as minimal disruption as possible."
The cause of the fire is not yet known.
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