YMCA NORFOLK

Around £10,000 of damage has been caused after a small fire broke out in a room at YMCA Norfolk’s Norwich Central accommodation facility yesterday (March 26) afternoon.

The alarm was raised just before 4pm about a fire in a third floor bedroom, which was unoccupied at the time.

Fire crews from Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service attended. Its group manager, Richard Smith, told the EDP: “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.

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 were approximately 23 people in the building at the time of the fire and they all came outside.”

The facility, next to Norwich bus station, provides accommodation for 16 to 25-year-olds who would otherwise be homeless.

YMCA Norfolk CEO, Tim Sweeting, said: “We are extremely grateful to the emergency services for their swift response and to our own staff at Central who took immediate and appropriate action to ensure everyone was safe and procedures were followed.”

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