A huge fire has engulfed the Knowle, the now-derelict former East Devon District Council offices.
The building went up in flames in the early hours of this morning, Thursday, March 30.
Sidmouth firefighters were called out shortly after 4am to reports of a glow in the sky, and found the building well alight. Fire crews from the surrounding area including Ottery, Honiton, Axminster, Seaton and Exeter were mobilised to the scene.
At 6.50am the firefighting operation involved eight fire appliances, two aerial ladder platforms, two water bowsers, an environmental protection unit and supporting crew and officers.
A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire & Rescue said: “At this time crews are at work tackling a fire within a disused building that consists of several linked buildings where approximately 1/3 of the building is involved in fire, this incident has been sectorised and crews are actively firefighting currently.
“We ask at this time for all residents to keep windows and doors closed and to avoid the local area, we expect the local water supply to be disrupted.”
At 9am smoke was billowing across Sidmouth and could be seen from miles away.
Local resident Ed Dolphin, who gave his permission for the Herald to use his photos of the fire, said: "It is such a shame to see the grand old building finally beaten ... the fire crews, many of them retained fire fighters of course, were all looking exhausted."
The building, which has been empty for several years, was due to be redeveloped into a care home and retirement living accommodation. The developer, McCarthy Stone, has provided a comment; the company had just released its latest design for the scheme.
Update 10.30am
At 10am Devon Fire and Rescue were using a high-volume pump to extract water from the Quay to supply crews at the scene of the fire. The hose runs up Station Road to the Knowle and road closures will be in place for several hours.
The chief fire officer at the scene said he expects crews to be there securing the site for at least six hours.
He added that the cause of the fire is not yet known.
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