Construction workers putting final touches to the Grand Pier, ruined by fire, at Weston Super Mare , Avon , England UK

The Grand Pier is a pier in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England. It is situated on the Bristol Channel approximately 18 miles (29 km) south west of Bristol. Here shown are three Sisk construction workers, that have worked on the pier. Following a fire, which completely destroyed the pavilion, the pier was rebuilt at a cost of £39 million and reopened on 23 October 2010. at 01:35 BST on 28 July 2008, a fire at the foot of the north tower on the shoreward (eastern) end of the pavilion triggered the privately monitored fire alarm, [10] but the Essex-based alarm monitoring company were unable to contact the key-holder by mobile phone and no further action was taken.[11] It was not until 06:46 BST that the Avon Fire and Rescue Service was notified. It deployed 13 fire engines, special appliances, and more than 85 firefighters to tackle the blaze, [10] but the building was soon destroyed. The pier on fire, 28 July 2008. Robert Tinker, a Grand Pier employee, was later praised by the fire service as he braved the extreme intensity of the heat from the flames to rush around the side of the building to remove several gas canisters which had been stored within the premises, had these not been removed the fire service claimed that the fire could have been much worse, with the possibility of local residents and traders needing to be evacuated. Preliminary investigations suggested that the fire started due to a number of deep fat fryers which had been located within the area pavilion, however after further investigation this was later ruled out, as was arson. On 22 October 2008 at a news conference held by the fire service, it was announced that the cause of the fire