Fire crews tackle thatch fire in West Grimstead
13 fire engines were called to a roof on fire, on Church Street
Last updated 25th Jan 2023
Fire crews from Wiltshire and Hampshire were mobilised to a thatch fire on a cottage roof, in West Grimstead.
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service were called to Church Street just before 3pm on Tuesday, following multiple emergency calls.
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire crews from Salisbury, Wilton and Verwood were called to the scene alongside neighbouring Hampshire Fire crews from Fordingbridge, Romsey, Lyndhurst, Eastleigh and Redbridge.
On arrival, firefighters found a thatched roof well alight.
Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus gained access to the loft space to extinguish the fire.
The blaze, which has been classified as a "large scale incident", took around seven hours to tackle and required 13 fire engines, as well as multiple water carriers and support units, and an aerial ladder platform.
A spokesperson from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said:
"We received a call at 2.58pm yesterday afternoon about a property fire on Church Street, West Grimstead.
"Control mobilised crews from Salisbury, Wilton and Verwood alongside neighbouring crews from Fordingbridge, Romsey, Lyndhurst, Eastleigh and Redbridge, a water carrier also from Wilton, and an Environmental Protection Unit from Gillingham.
"On arrival, firefighters found a thatched roof well alight, so breathing apparatus wearers gained access to the loft space in order to create a fire break and extinguish the fire.
"At the height of the incident there were 13 fire engines, 2 water carriers, an aerial ladder platform and 2 support units."
The incident was scaled back at 8pm on Tuesday but firefighters continued to fight the fire externally using hose reel jets, main lines and ladders.
The fire was finally out just before 10pm.
We're told all occupants were evacuated safely and no casualties have been reported.
A spokesperson from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service added:
"Crews remained on scene dampening down until the early hours of this morning at which point the incident was scaled back again to just 2 appliances who maintained a watching brief overnight to monitor any hotspots.
"Although this was a large scale incident, we didn’t declare a major incident."