West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service reported on social media on Friday (11 April) evening that it was responding to a fire at the Gribble Inn, Oving, near Chichester.
The service urged people to avoid the area and for residents to keep windows and doors shut.
Later the same evening, it was reported the fire had been extinguished but those living nearby were still asked to keep windows and doors closed due to the smoke.
A spokesperson for West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said: “At approximately 4.53pm on Friday (11 April) our Joint Fire Control received a call reporting a fire at the Gribble Inn pub in Oving, Chichester.
“Five fire engines, one ariel ladder platform and one water carrier were immediately mobilised to the scene with firefighters using breathing apparatus to tackle the fire.
“The fire was extinguished at 7.05pm but crews remained at the scene monitoring and damping down.
“The last crew left the scene at 9.22pm. The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.”
Previous incident
At the end of February, a fire broke out at the country pub and caused “significant” damage to the building.
Upon arrival, the emergency service was faced with a large fire with the roof space of the thatched public house fully involved in the fire.
According to the fire service, everyone had left the premises before crews arrived and no injuries were reported.
At the height of the incident, there were 10 fire engines and two aerial ladder platforms at the scene with nearby residents urged to keep their doors and windows closed due to the amount of smoke in the area.
Following the fire earlier in the year, the pub shared on social media that it had suffered “substantial fire damage”.
Meanwhile, earlier this month (April), firefighters were called to an Essex pub after a neighbour woke to see a fire in the venue’s outdoor area.
The fire service contained the blaze at the Rose & Crown in Wivenhoe, preventing it from spreading to the main building and fully extinguishing it before cutting away sections of the fencing to ensure the area was completely cooled and safe.
Colchester Fire Station watch manager Darren Holliday said: “After reviewing the scene and watching the CCTV footage, we found a cigarette had been discarded in the outdoor area about four hours earlier.
“It had smouldered before igniting nearby materials, eventually causing a much larger fire.”
Holliday urged people to double check cigarettes were fully stubbed out and safely thrown away.
This came after a similar fire the previous night at a property in Stanway, Colchester where the same crew responded to a shed fire.
