Historic 17th century thatched barn destroyed in fire
A large blaze has destroyed a historic 17th century thatched barn in Denchworth, South Oxfordshire.
Local residents described the blaze that broke out at around 3am on 11th March as “horrific”.
70 firefighters attended the fierce blaze trying desperately to prevent the flames from spreading to neighbouring homes. Many trees were cut down to stop the fire spreading further.
The flames were so severe that at one point firefighters were unable to walk past the buildings due to the intense.
The barn was part of the Denchworth Manor which is a Grade II listed building. It was recently sold by Savills UK for around £4.75m.
Eye witness, Rosemary Jones said: “It was horrific when we looked out the window and saw the flames going up, especially as we live in a thatched building.”
Mike Jones, added: “We were concerned about it spreading until we spoke to the fire chief and they said it was under control. But if the wind had been up and coming from that direction everyone would have had a problem.”
Another local resident from Denchworth said: “It was one hell of a blaze. I was standing 200 yards away and I could feel the heat. From what I could see the firefighters could not put it out, but they contained it from getting to the manor house or any other buildings. They did a great job. But they were beautiful, elegant thatched barns with a lot of history and significance to this village. It is a disaster to this area.”
During the fire, electricity pylons were damaged, cutting power to the community for over an hour.
David Heycock, Fire service group manager said: “The spread of the fire was so quick we were unable to prevent the loss of the building.”
An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out.
100 firefighters called to Glasgow blaze
More than 100 firefighters were called in to tackle a huge fire at a former Co-Operative Funeral Service building in Glasgow.
The fire broke out at the Morrison Street building at around 1.50pm on 28th November. Two buildings in the structure have been “gutted” with no floors from ground to the fifth level remaining. The third building was partially damaged.
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “This is now a dangerous building, and our building control team are now looking to speak to the building owners and their representatives to take the situation forward.”
At the height of the blaze, flames were reported to reach around 100ft into the air. Many neighbouring buildings had to be evacuated but residents were able to return to their properties later that night.
A spokesman for Strathclyde Fire and Rescue said: “Firefighters are continuing dampening down operations at the Morrison Street incident. At present, we have one aerial rescue pump, one pump and two ground monitors working at the scene.
A full investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out.
Huge blaze at Sheffield business premises
Thirty firefighters attended an incident at a building on Broadfield Road in Heeley, Sheffield on Sunday 2nd October.
The fire broke out at around 6.45pm and was attended by crews from Central, Mansfield Road and Lowedges.
A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “The fire broke through the roof space of the building and a massive amount of smoke was coming from the building, which is why some roads were closed. It is a two-storey building and gas and electricity supplies were isolated for the safety of our firefighters. No-one is believed to have been in the building at the time. This was a large fire and firefighters worked very hard to quickly bring the blaze under control. An investigation will be carried out into the cause of the fire in due course.”
Nearby roads were closed during the incident due to the plume of smoke coming from the fire but most had re-opened by 9.15pm.
An investigation into the cause of the fire will be carried out.
Faulty freezer could be cause of London house fire deaths
A house fire that killed a mother and her five children is believed to have been caused by a freezer.
Muna Elmufatish, 41, daughters Hanin Kua, 14, Basma, 13, and nine year old Amal, and brothers Mustafa, five, and Yehya, two, died in the blaze at their home in north-west London on Saturday. The children’s father, Bassam Kua, 51, and 16-year-old sister, Nur, escaped the flames but remain in hospital in a serious condition.
London Fire Brigade report that the chest freezer stored in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, was most likely to have started the blaze. The fire is London’s worst house fire in more than a decade.
London Fire Brigade said: “Six people died and two people were seriously injured in a blaze that started in the early hours of Saturday morning in a two-storey semi-detached house in Neasden. Fire investigators believe that a chest freezer, which was in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs, may have caused the fire. The make of the chest freezer is not known at this stage.”
Investigations continue to determine the exact cause of the fire which police do not believe was suspicious.
80 firefighters called to tower block blaze
80 firefighters attended a fire at Markham Tower, in Bowers Avenue, Mile Cross on Monday 26th September.
Brenda Arthur, Norwich City Council leader said: “We would like to thank our staff and all our tenants for remaining calm and carrying out our evacuation procedure to the letter. It’s a tribute to everyone involved that no-one was hurt. We understand this is an upsetting time for all those affected by the fire. Some of our tenants have already indicated they would like to stay with family and friends while repairs are carried out. We will work out the best form of accommodation for those who can’t call on relatives so that everyone can be looked after properly until they can get back to their homes.”
The city council has confirmed that one flat is badly damaged by fire and 10 flats have suffered severe water damage. There appears to be no serious structural damage, and only minimal smoke damage to rest of the property.
The fire is thought to have started in an eighth floor flat although the person living in the flat was not at home at the time.
Stuart Horth, incident commander from Norfolk Fire Rescue Service, said the fire was put out within 10 minutes just as it was starting to spread to floor above. He praised the work of the fire crews and also the swift actions of the people living in the building who evacuated the building before emergency services arrived and helped avert a more serious situation.
David Freeman, witness the fire. He said: “We heard shouting telling us to get out and when we did we saw smoke and within five minutes the window had blown out. We could see a few flames out the bottom of the window at first but within a few minutes they were huge and the whole flat was obviously engulfed. It was terrifying and we were all worried in case anyone was in there. It was panic, really.”