Firefighters from across Sussex tackled a blaze in a four-storey building.
The fire broke out above shops in East Street, Chichester, shortly before 9pm last night.
It spread through the property, which consisted of two storeys and an attic, above the Fat Face store, through service ducts.
A total of 12 fire engines, from stations including Chichester, Selsey, East Wittering, Worthing, Bognor, Littlehampton, Arundel and Shoreham, attended the incident.
Firefighters from Havant in Hampshire were also called out.
Teams of breathing apparatus wearers tackled the fire from inside the building to try and prevent the fire from spreading to the roof space of neighbouring properties.
Crews also used an aerial ladder platform from Worthing to tackle the fire from above.
The occupiers of the building had been alerted by a smoke alarm and no one was injured.
The fire is believed to have been started by an electrical fault.
There was a small amount of smoke damage to adjoining properties.
Firefighters remain at the scene this morning as an investigation takes place.
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