EastEnders’ Cheryl Fergison posts sincere Blackpool Tower tribute after netting ‘fire’ blunder

EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison saw the funny side after posting her condolences about the reported Blackpool Tower fire after it had already been debunked.

On Thursday (28 December) at 2.15pm, fire crews were called to Blackpool Tower when a suspected blaze broke out near the top of the historic seaside structure.

However, at 2.59pm, Lancashire Police wrote on Facebook that it had been a “false alarm”. They revealed at 4.17pm that the “flames” were actually orange netting fluttering in the wind.

Missing the memo, however, was EastEnders star Fergison. The actor – best known for playing Heather Trott on the soap – shared her own tribute to the tower at 4.58pm, after it had already been revealed that the building wasn’t on fire.

Fergison posted a selfie to Twitter/X with the tower in the background, which she captioned: “May the Tower stand tall forever in Blackpool [heart emoji].”

When it was revealed that the tower was, in fact, not on fire, Fergison shared a video captioned: “No fire.. happy days.”

“But do you know what, folks? My little heart was bleeding, because I thought there can’t be a fire in our tower, no way? I mean, that’s been standing since the 1800s, come on!” she said in the clip.

Fergison went on to praise the “iconic” building, saying it “makes my heart beat every time I come towards going home – it’s there and I see it in the distance”.

She added: “Forgive me for being passionate about the Blackpool Tower, but I love it and I am so happy it wasn’t a fire and that everybody’s OK and that the building is good. Happy days.”

Fergison then shared a post superimposing her EastEnders character onto the tower with the caption: “My son recons [sic] Hev was up the top wearing her orange top.”

When the “fire” was first reported, it triggered an emergency response, with Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service sending six fire engines, the drone team and the rope rescue team to the scene.

People were asked to stay away from the area, with pictures taken at the scene showing a specialist climbing team on the structure.

However, the police shared in a later statement: “We know there are reports of a fire at Blackpool Tower and we just wanted to give you an update from our Divisional Commander Ch Supt Karen Edwards.

“Our helicopter has flown over the tower and there is no fire. We can confirm what can be seen is orange netting.”

The force added that one man had been arrested on suspicion of breach of the peace and was being transported to custody.