Forty firefighters tackle large blaze in Hemsby

Firefighters worked through the night following a blaze in a derelict building in Hemsby.

The fire in Hemsby - Credit: Archant

Emergency services were called to an area known as the Marrams, adjacent to St Marys Road, shortly after 7.20pm yesterday.

Around 40 firefighters and ten appliances attended the scene.

Incident commander Alan Nicolls said the crews were very fortunate with the weather conditions during the evening.

'The wind conditions were in our favour', he said. 'On initial arrival the fire was already well alight. There was difficult access to the site from both ends.

'There was a lot of defensive firefighting and I'm thankful to the crews who worked hard to achieve that.'

People staying in six nearby chalets had to be evacuated during the incident.

The cause of the fire in still unknown and a fire investigation will begin today.

Jonathon Childs, Norfolk county councillor for East Flegg, said: 'It has been an accident waiting to happen. I did contact Hemsby Parish Council about the state of the place as people had complained to me.

'I would like to thank the member of the public who reported the fire, and the crew of Hemsby life boat whom moved other residents and tried to control the flames until the brigade got there.'

There were no reports of injuries from the incident.