Fire crews called to blaze started by homemade smoker in Emsworth restaurant

Fire stations in Havant and Cosham sent crews to the incident at 36 On The Quay restaurant, in South Street, Emsworth, at 8.30pm last night.

Firefighters spent more than an hour battling the blaze, with the emergency services turning up just as the fire started to spread across the building, according to one firefighter at the scene.

He said: ‘They had a store room and it started there – there were old fridges out there.

‘Fortunately we got there just before it broke out.

‘There was some smoke damage and the fire had begun to damage a little of cladding on the front of the building.’

A survey of the damage and conversations with the owner have led fire crews to believe the fire started in a homemade smoker in the store room.

The firefighter added: ‘I believe it started in a smoker – the owner mentioned burning hay and logs in it.

‘It was a homemade smoker, it looked like it was a fridge that had been converted. It was quite badly fire damaged.’

No one was injured in the incident.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Thank you for reading this story.

The dramatic events of 2020 are having a major impact on our advertisers and thus our revenues.

The News is more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription to support our journalism.

You can subscribe here for unlimited access to Portsmouth news and information online.

Every subscription helps us continue providing trusted, local journalism and campaign on your behalf for our city.