Journalists escape fire at West Sussex County Times

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A fire swept through the offices of the Johnston Press-owned West Sussex County Times last night (Thursday, 22 September) severely damaging parts of the building. Two journalists were inside the production area of the Horsham offices at 6.50pm when the fire broke out. They were able to leave the building and raised the alarm. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which is thought to have been caused by a faulty electrical light fitting. The newspaper's website shows images and a video showing the damage. The offices are likely to be out of use for some months but editor-in-chief of the paper Gary Shipton insists it is "business as usual" and production of the West Sussex County Times and sister titles, also based at the building in Horsham "would not in anyway be affected". Late last night the paper published a story online to say staff would be moved to other Johnston Press offices in the area. “I am obviously enormously relieved that no-one appears to have been injured in the fire,” Shipton said. He added that it was too early to assess the level of damage that he hoped the swift action of the emergency services had contained the damage to one editorial area on the first floor.