Fire crews were called out to a fire at a YMCA building in Norwich.
The incident at the Norwich Central YMCA building, in Winalls Yard, started just before 4pm today after the alarm was raised about a fire in one of the third floor bedrooms of the property which provides accommodation for 16 to 25-year-olds who are homeless.
Group manager Richard Smith, from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said: 'There was a small fire in one of the bedrooms and we have had about six fire crews and the aerial ladder platform come and extinguish it...Crews worked really well to extinguish the fire quickly.'
He added: 'The YMCA staff worked really well to evacuate and carry out a roll call of people in the premises and confirm to the fire service that there were no people in the building.'
He said an investigation would take place to establish the cause of the fire which had caused a 'relatively minor' amount of fire damage as well as some smoke damage.
Angela Thornton, head of housing for YMCA Norfolk, said an alarm had alerted staff to the fire in the bedroom which had not been occupied at the time.
She said: 'The designated person went to check where the alarm was going off and realised there was smoke. We knew the young person was not there and we got everybody else out of the building. I am really pleased with the way everybody evacuated. We accommodate 36 people and there was approximately 23 people in the building at the time of the fire and they all came outside.'
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