Fire crews called to house blaze

The firecrews arrived from Bognor, Chichester, Worthing and Littlehampton because of fears about the scale of the blaze at Whyke House in Gordon Avenue.

The first of them to reach the three-storey property saw a small amount of smoke escaping from the roof and heard a smoke alarm sounding.

Two of them wore breathing apparatus to enter the building and ensure the fire had not spread into the flats into which it is divided and the roof space.

Ladders were also used to assist with the removal of tiles from the roof to help to ventilate the smoke.

A thermal imaging camera was used to assist the firefighters to tackle the blaze. It was located in the wall cavity and roof area. Some smoke damage was caused to the property.

The cause of the fire was under investigation yesterday but it is known a builder had been stripping paint from the windows of the property earlier in the day.

The alarm about the blaze was raised soon after 2pm on Tuesday. It took just over an hour before the firefighters were satisfied the danger was over. Those present at the scene were two fire engines and a Landrover from Bognor fire station, one fire engine from both Chichester and Littlehampton and an aerial ladder platform based at Worthing.