Overview

• Merseyside Police said the teenager was arrested on suspicion of arson and conditionally bailed as a joint investigation with Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service continues.
• Fire crews were alerted at 8:09pm on 19 August and found the building well alight, with up to nine engines and an aerial appliance deployed for exterior firefighting.
• A building surveyor judged the structure unsafe to enter, the roof collapsed during the blaze, and operations were confined to external jets and aerial suppression.
• The main body of the fire was brought under control by around 2am on 20 August, with crews since scaling back to monitoring, hotspotting, and damp-down while safety cordons remain.
• Woolton Hall dates to 1704, has been long vacant, was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk register in 2021, and previously suffered a fire in 2019.