UKNIPFire crews are still in Canterbury city centre more than nine hours after a large blaze broke out at a former Debenhams store.
Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) said eight engines and a height vehicle were sent to the empty property in Guildhall Street shortly after 20:30 GMT on Monday.
About 30 people were evacuated from nine nearby flats and 50 firefighters were in attendance at the peak of the incident.
At 06:00 on Tuesday, eight fire engines and two height vehicles were still at the scene, which has been cordoned off.
UKNIPAt 09:30, KFRS said the fire was under control but one person had been passed into the care of South East Coast Ambulance Service due to smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire is still unknown, Kent Police added.
Resident Snow Shang said being evacuated with her nine-year-old son was “really scary”.
Canterbury City Council had set up a welfare centre on Monday night, which was later stood down, to help those who had been evacuated.
“Our teams worked hard to support those that could arrange a place to stay for themselves and found overnight accommodation for those that could not,” a council spokesperson added.
Simon Jones/BBCKai Valentine, who works for a nearby insurance company, said he was unable to get into work because of the fire and only found out about the blaze once he arrived.
“[With] the cost of living at the moment, [and] everything else, hopefully small businesses don’t get affected too drastically,” he said.
Mr Valentine also said he was finding it hard to breathe in some areas near the fire.
Those living nearby are still being urged by the fire service to keep their windows and doors shut due to the large amount of smoke in the area.
Neil Griffiths, assistant director of response at KFRS, said: “[What] we are more worried about, once we got the people out of the buildings, is about protecting the city of Canterbury from the fire spread.”
He said one of the service’s priorities was to deal with the incident as quickly as possible to limit the disruption in the town.
