Clacton fire: Huge blaze rips through building in popular seaside town with residents evacuated - is it extinguished now?
A huge fire has erupted in a popular seaside town with residents evacuated.
Firefighters remain at the scene in West Avenue, Clacton-on-Sea, after a fire started shortly after midnight. It has since been extinguished this morning (Monday 18 August) at around 7am.
Residents were warned to keep windows and doors shut because of the amount of smoke coming from the burning building. An emergency shelter has been set up by Tendring District Council for displaced residents.
Incident commander Nick Singleton, from Essex County Fire and Rescue, said: "The fire has been extinguished and crews will remain at the scene to monitor and dampen down any hotspots. I'd like to say a big thank you to the crews who worked extremely hard to stop the fire from spreading to nearby buildings.
"As well as a thank you to our emergency services partners for their help, the Premier Inn for providing a refuge centre and local residents for being patient with us while we deal with the incident. A fire investigation will be carried out to determine the cause of the fire when it is safe to do so."