Family escape ‘very severe fire’ at Bar Hill home

A family escaped a “very severe fire” without injury after it engulfed their Bar Hill home last night (Thursday, December 2).

Firefighters from Cambridge, Cottenham and Huntingdon, along with crews from Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk raced to the property in Pheasant Rise shortly after 8.15pm.

They found a kitchen fire which had spread throughout the ground and first floor of the two-storey semi-detached house.

Station commander Paul Clarke, who was in charge of the incident, said crews were faced with “a very severe fire”.

“The fire started in the kitchen and spread quickly to other areas of the house. An item on top of an electric hob was set alight following a ring being accidentally switched on. The plastic caught fire and quickly spread up the walls and throughout the kitchen, before spreading to the rest of the ground floor and subsequently the first floor, he said.

Wearing breathing apparatus, firefighters extinguished the blaze using hose reels and jets, along with a multistar aerial appliance to tackle the fire from above to prevent spread through the roof space. They cleared the smoke using a positive pressure ventilation fan before returning to their stations by 1am.

Mr Clarke continued: “Fires in the kitchen are often caused by hobs being switched on accidentally, so it is really important to keep these areas clear and free of clutter, such as cooking appliances or cloths.

“This was a devastating fire that has caused significant damage to this family’s home. Despite the excellent work of the crews throughout the night to prevent further fire spread to adjacent properties, they were unable to prevent significant damage to the affected property.

“However, the working smoke alarms in the property allowed the family to escape safely before the fire spread and thankfully no injuries were sustained. This shows how important it is to have smoke alarms fitted and to test them regularly.”