It was 8-50pm and the owner of a Penrith barber shop was about to go home after collecting a takeaway from the town’s Pizza Piatto on Wednesday, 5th July, when he took a call that nobody wants hear.
On the phone a customer was telling Kos that there was a fire in his Middlegate-based salon.
“It was a horrible thing, because 40 minutes ago I had been there,” said Kos, who is part of the Kurdish community. On the night, I had been in the shop at 8-10pm. I checked everything was off. I didn’t smell any burning, there were no sounds from the electricity or anything,” he said. After taking the call, he was at the shop in seconds.
“When he gave me the ring, it was small, very small (the fire),” said Kos.
But by the time he arrived it was “out of control”. I tried to ring for the fire and police. There was nothing else I could do,” said Kos.
The aftershave and hairspray kept on the premises “acted like petrol” being thrown on to the flames as the fire raged.
“It would have been easier to control the fire if that stuff had not been there,” said Kos, who praised the fire and rescue service for getting the flames under control as quickly as they did.
It had spread to the flat accommodation above the salon, but Kos said there was nobody present at the time.
He said he has been told the fire was sparked as a result of an electrical fault in the meter. The shop has been a barbers for seven years, being called Top Cut Barber until Kos took over as landlord a year ago and changed it to Kos Cut Barber. In 2019, he said, between £4,000 and £5,000 had been spent on a new electrical system, but much more is now going to have to be spent on getting the salon back up and running again.
“I don’t have insurance so everything has been repaired by my own money,” said Kos, who added that it was going to cost a “significant sum”. The hope is, however, that the salon will be able to reopen in under three weeks under its former name, Top Cut Barber. “It is now going back to Top Cut Barber, because that is what all the customers call it,” said Kos.
In addition, a separate entrance is being created for the upstairs flat accommodation.
“A lot of customers have sent me messages to say they are so sorry about the fire and that they hope we will be repaired as soon as possible
“Thank you for everyone that has texted and rang me,” said Kos. While the shop is closed, Kos can still be contacted via Koscutbarber@yahoo.com
