An Isle of Wight animal rescue charity - at the centre of a suspected arson attack - says it was just "minutes away" from losing its entire Newport premises.
Part of Friends of the Animals' head office, based on Riverway in Newport, was engulfed in flames at around 1am last night.
Hampshire Constabulary has confirmed it is investigating the incident as arson.
Trustee Martin Gomez, whose wife Helen runs the charity on the Island, was alerted after receiving a call from the property's security company just after 1am.
He claims CCTV shows a sudden flash and part of the building "literally exploding". He says he suspects an accelerant was used:
"What really saddens all of us is for five minutes for whatever reasons, so many hours of effort are going to have to be spent to repair, replace, redo the work [to the building].
"The police have had to be called to deal with it, the fire brigade put their lives at risk. So many things will cost and be slowed up because of this act. It's just unbelievable that somebody could do that to anybody - I suppose to a charity it seems even worse.
"I'm lost for words."
Martin says he "rushed down" to the scene at around 1.20am, by which time the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service had managed to put out the flames.
The front store room, where the blaze broke out, was on the verge of being demolished, with planning permission granted by the Isle of Wight Council to build a new shop.
Martin says although that part of the building was undergoing refurbishment, the outcome could have been a lot worse.
He says they are "very, very lucky":
"Firemen were called by a gentleman across the road who had been working late. We're very grateful to the fire brigade for their prompt attention because the senior fire officer at the time said if it were to have gone on for another five to ten minutes it would have gone into the roof section and it would have been the end of the building...
"A few more minutes could have seen the end of 20 years plus."
Thanks to the fire service's efforts, no damage was done to the rest of the building.
Martin says police have been at the premises investigating the incident.
The charity, which formed in 1990, rehomes animals and pays towards veterinary treatment. It relies on donations from the public.
If you want to help the charity, you can donate here.
Anyone with information about the arson investigation is asked to contact police on 101, quoting crime reference number 44200447554
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