PEOPLE had to be evacuated from a St Albans city-centre bar and restaurant on Sunday morning because of a chimney fire. Firefighters were called to the Waterend Barn, which is a Lloyds Bar, in Civic Close at around 10am. The crew used a thermal imaging ca
PEOPLE had to be evacuated from a St Albans city-centre bar and restaurant on Sunday morning because of a chimney fire.
Firefighters were called to the Waterend Barn, which is a Lloyds Bar, in Civic Close at around 10am.
The crew used a thermal imaging camera and specialist chimney equipment to tackle the fire and it was out within an hour.
A spokesperson for the Waterend Barn said the smoke going up through the chimney from the open fireplace had began to travel back down into the bar and customers and staff were evacuated immediately.
They were allowed to return to the bar, which is owned by the JD Wetherspoon chain, about an hour later.
There was no damage resulting from the incident and nobody was injured.
An onlooker, who was shopping at the nearby Farmers Market at the time of the fire, said he began to notice a strong smell of wood and saw a thick plume of smoke billowing into the air from the building.
He said the market was soon engulfed in a cloud of smoke.
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