Six fire crews tackled a fire at one of York’s biggest former office blocks today (Tuesday).
Crews from Acomb, York, Huntington and Tadcaster went to the former Aviva building on Rougier Street after a fire was reported at about 3pm.
The block is currently being transformed into a 150-bedroom Malmaison Hotel.
People working inside were evacuated as firefighters wearing breathing apparatus went into the building.
According to some of those evacuated, a process to fix new flooring to the block caused a chemical reaction, resulting in the fire and filling the building with smoke and fumes.
North Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service tweeted: “Crews have extinguished a small fire and are currently ventilating the lower part of the building using a positive pressure fan.”
Rougier Street was partially blocked by the emergency operation, but has since reopened.
