Thatched cottage destroyed by fire
More than 50 firefighters spent the night tackling a thatch roof fire in Calbourne on the Isle of Wight
Last updated 27th Sep 2021
Crews from Newport, Freshwater, Cowes, East Cowes, Ryde and Shanklin were joined by firefighters from St Mary’s, Fareham, Southsea, Hightown, Cosham, Havant, Eastleigh and Portchester at the incident in Elm Lane.
The call came in at 19:09 on Sunday (26 September) and the roof of the property was well alight.
Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used water jets and the aerial ladder platform while thatch was stripped from the roof and salvage operations began.
By 0400 significant progress had been made to strip thatch from the roof and the incident was scaled down. The stop message was received at 05:22.
The ground floor of the cottage has been 100 percent damaged by smoke and water and the first floor is estimated to have been 80 percent damaged.
Group Manager, Justin Harden, said: “Thatch fires are notoriously difficult and the crews worked tirelessly throughout the night. My thanks to them for their dedication and for managing to salvage most of the owner’s personal property while the fire was happening.
“The cause of the fire was accidental. It’s believed to have started when a fire was lit in the hearth.
“Incidents like these show how important it is for chimneys to be swept and inspected.”
One crew has remained on scene this morning to dampen down and check for hotspots.