Firefighters tackle blaze above Franco Manca restaurant near Cambridge market

Firefighters were called to a fire above a restaurant on Market Hill, which is believed to have been started by ‘discarded smoking materials’.

Three crews from Cambridge were called to tackle the blaze at 10.54am on Sunday (February 24).

Firefighters arrived to find a fire on the third floor of a building above a restaurant, and worked for several hours to tackle the blaze, which they extinguished using a hose reel. They returned to their station by 4.15pm.

Station Commander Tony Burton, the officer in charge of the incident, said: “This was a challenging incident for the crews due to the complex layout and age of the building. They all worked very hard to search the building to investigate the source of the fire.

“The fire was started accidentally due to a build up of discarded smoking materials on the third floor of the building that had spread through the pipe work. This highlights how important it is for those that smoke to make sure they safely extinguish and discard any smoking materials in a metal container. Luckily on this occasion the fire was small and didn’t result in any damage or injuries.

“Thank you to the residents and business in and around the market square area.”