CROWDS of onlookers gathered in Ipswich as a furniture storage area went up in flames.

CROWDS of onlookers gathered in Ipswich as a furniture storage area went up in flames.

Firefighters went to the blaze, which also involved a large shed, in Little Bramford Lane, at around 5.50pm yesterday.

Gatacre Road resident Suzy Woollard saw the flames from her house and went to see what was happening.

She said she saw the fire crews tackling the blaze and hosing down the Farmfoods supermarket to stop it from catching alight.

She said: “There was a conifer tree just to the left of the shed that was starting to catch fire as well so they were dousing that down as well as the shed.

“The firefighters were worried about the embers which were floating on to the Farmfoods roof.

“The roof itself was getting very hot so they were having to hose that down as well as getting the fire under control as well as stopping the other buildings catching fire.”

“After they doused the flames down the smoke and all the stuff from the shed was blowing everywhere. It was just absolutely thick.”

The firefighting effort was hampered by a LPG cylinder involved in the fire. Crews originally retreated to a safe distance until the contents of the cylinder could be established.

A spokeswoman for the fire service said the incident involved a single storey furniture store and outbuildings and was out by 7.45pm.

Graham Fussell, from Hadleigh, was in Ipswich and drove to Graham Road and saw the garage on fire.

He said: “I was talking to an ambulance person and a policeman and they both said they were afraid a propane cylinder could have gone off.”

N Emergency services were called to Whitland Close in Ipswich at 2.15am today where a ground floor flat of a mid-terrace house was alight and people were reported to be inside.

Police said the occupants all got out safely but it was being treated as suspicious. One man was treated at the scene by paramedics but no one was taken to hospital.

Earlier, crews went to a doorway fire in a end terrace house in Swansea Avenue at 1.45am, and a shed fire in Turin Street at 8pm.

There were also three vehicles blazes, a car fire in Kelly Road at 9.55pm, a derelict van fire in Gower Street at 8pm and a car fire which spread to a garage and fencing in Queenscliffe Road at 6.45pm.