Police sealed off a section of Ipswich town centre after a fire broke out in a flat.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service received a callout to the incident in Carr Street, off Upper Brook Street and Northgate Street, at 12.23pm on Friday.
More than a dozen engines from Ipswich East, Woodbridge, Stowmarket, Princes Street, Felixstowe, Needham Market, Hadleigh and Haverhill fire stations were dispatched to the scene.
Fire-breaks-out-in-Ipswich-flat-ffffffff972acba7
A crew from Essex County Fire and Rescue Service was also in attendance.
A Suffolk police spokesman confirmed officers were called to the scene after a fire started in a residential flat on the second floor of the building.
Nearby shops were closed while emergency services were in attendance, the spokesman added.
A man, who was working in a store in Carr Street when the fire broke out, said: "The fire alarm went off so we evacuated. Then the police came and got us out of the street."
Jack Marklove, who lives in the apartment block, praised the response of the firefighters dispatched to tackle the blaze.
He said: "I was at work and I heard a load of fire engines going past and I found out from my neighbour that there was a fire.
"I saw a video of a lot of smoke coming out but thankfully by the time I got there, the fire had been put out so the response from the service was good."
Juanicia Castelli, another resident in the flat complex, heard the fire alarm go off at about midday.
She said Friday is the typically day when the fire alarm is tested and that in her mind it was just a test.
But after a while, she started to smell smoke and evacuated the building.
Her family lives on the opposite side to where the fire was happening.
Police lifted the cordon in Carr Street shortly before 2pm, but officers sealed off the entrance of Focus Apartments.
A number of fire engines were stood down from the incident a short while later, with a stop being called by the fire service at 2.50pm.
The cause of the blaze has not yet been revealed.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here