Firefighters from across Southampton tackle Shirley High Street blaze

Multiple crews attended a fire at a derelict shop on Shirley high street last night.

The initial call came in at around 16:45 with more than 10 emergency calls made into the HIWFRS Control Room reporting the blaze.

There were six fire engines from St Mary’s, Hightown, Redbridge, Eastleigh and Totton, supported by water carriers and aerial ladder platform vehicles coming from Southsea, Fareham and Ringwood, and the HIWFRS Command Support Unit.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used jets to put out the fire which affected the ground floor of the property, with the two floors above suffering smoke damage.

Crews then used fans to remove any remaining smoke and cut away some of the ceiling to dampen down.

Residents were asked to avoid the area due to the number of emergency vehicles on scene, with the road closed during the incident.

One crew returned to reinspect the scene and check for any hotspots.

Fire Investigation Officers attended the scene in the morning to undertake a joint investigation with police.