A town centre shop suffered severe damage in a blaze after an item of clothing was accidentally set alight by an electric fire.
Local residents were advised to keep their windows closed as the fire took hold at a clothes shop on Cardiff Road, Caerphilly.
At one stage seven fire crews were in attendance, including from as far afield as the Vale of Glamorgan, after the alarm was raised at 10:05 GMT.
Firefighters managed to put the fire out and were subsequently damping down the scene, with a South Wales Fire and Rescue Service spokesman saying the blaze had spread quickly from the electric fire which had been put on by the shop’s owner.
A police cordon was erected on Cardiff Road as officers tackled the fire, which was contained on the ground floor of the building.
Local resident Dan Curtis said he saw the blaze when out shopping as smoke engulfed the town, adding that the shop looked as though it was “completely wrecked”.
Copyright Press Association 2014