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Hemsby chip shop fire rages on seafront | Hemsby chip shop fire rages on seafront |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A seafront fish and chip shop became engulfed in flames as holidaymakers at a Norfolk resort looked on. | A seafront fish and chip shop became engulfed in flames as holidaymakers at a Norfolk resort looked on. |
At its height 45 firefighters tackled the blaze on Beach Road, Hemsby, after it started in a deep fat fryer. | |
The chip shop has been completely gutted and another business has been damaged by the flames, Norfolk Fire Service said. | |
The fire is now under control and being damped down, but the area is due to remain cordoned off into the evening. | |
When the fire erupted, thick smoke billowed across the road near the arcades and the Hemsby Beach Holiday Village. | |
Eyewitness Jack Barnes said: "We were walking past the place and we thought it was a barbecue starting off, and obviously then the staff were outside, and said that no-one could go in, it was a fire. | |
"It was a shame because the place has just been done up - half of it was being done up and half of it was being used. | |
"It's pretty shocking for a nice family resort, at the height of the season." | "It's pretty shocking for a nice family resort, at the height of the season." |
Paramedics treated one person for an asthma attack but there were no further casualties. | |
Incident commander Martin Harris said you could see smoke 200ft (61m) in the air as he approached in his fire engine. | |
He said three members of staff tried to tackle the fire when it broke out, but they were forced to leave the building and dial 999. | |
"I believe it was a fire in a deep fat fryer initially, and then it spread through the chip shop quite quickly and into the restaurant next door," said Mr Harris. | |
"Luckily we managed to stop it before it got to the other commercial properties to the rear." | |
A number of businesses stretch along Beach Road including restaurants, gift shops, a nightclub and a betting shop. | |
One shop owner, Barry Cunniffe, told BBC Radio Norfolk the person who ran the chip shop had spent 18 months refurbishing his premises, which includes a restaurant, but now "the whole thing's gone" and it was "devastating". | |