Pictures show aftermath of 'raging inferno' in Portsmouth city centre

Firefighters battled a ‘raging inferno’ at the building opposite the McDonald’s in Commercial Road in the early hours of this morning.

Pictures show that the front of the Playland amusements has been severely damaged by the blaze.

Charisma Webster who owns the Vapour Room next door spoke of the ‘mass panic’ when receiving the call about the fire from emergency services.

The 34-year-old said: ‘It is difficult because of Covid, because of the current situation, for something like this to happen at this time, it’s hard enough for independent businesses to survive let alone two days after we are allowed to reopen for something like this to happen.

‘I’m just very grateful it could have been a lot worse, there could have been injuries, it was just mass panic at first when I got a phone call in the early hours of the morning.

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‘I’m very thankful and grateful to fire services and police service that it wasn’t any worse than it was, it could have come within metres of my shop, which is an electronic cigarette shop, which means there is electronics here, it could have been a lot worse.

‘It is a shock to the system when we need business more than ever, however I’m just massively glad that it was in the derelict section of this building. Even if the office space upstairs is occupied and this shop.’

Southsea Fire Station were called to the scene of the blaze at 3am and police cars remain at the scene this morning.

Firefighter Roxy Roberts said: ‘We were called to a raging inferno at the amusement opposite McDonalds in Commercial Road.

‘We sent three appliances, including one aerial ladder platform.

‘No one was in the building. We were called at 3am.

‘There was a lot of smoke damage inside and the front of the amusements has been cut away. It was more external damage than internal damage.’

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