The owner of a thatched house has praised firefighters for their ‘phenomenal’ response after a blaze threatened to destroy her home.
Gemma Miller and her family were at their home in the village of Durley, near Bishop’s Waltham, when a spark from the chimney set fire to the roof.
Fires involving thatched roofs can be devastating, often causing significant damage to properties, and taking hours for firefighters to tackle.
Having lived in a thatched house for nearly 17 years, the Millers had always taken care to keep themselves and their property safe, fearing the impact a fire could have.
But the family says they feel lucky after the quick actions of crews prevented last month’s fire from spreading – and a special fire-retardant liner limited damage to the roof.
Now Gemma has thanked the crews who attended on the night, as other thatched homeowners are being asked to complete a simple home safety check to keep themselves protected.
Gemma said: “We were very lucky. You think about the ‘what ifs’ – what if we had been in bed? It’s a quiet lane, what if no one had seen?
“We know that we’ve been lucky. It’s happened and that’s been awful, but we are safe, and our animals are safe.
“The firefighters were phenomenal, just amazing.”
The Millers had been unaware that there was anything wrong until the alarm was raised by two BT engineers who had spotted a flickering light coming from the roof.
Within minutes of the 999 call, fire crews were at the scene in Parsonage Lane and at the height of the incident, 12 fire engines were in attendance, with more than 60 firefighters working to control the blaze (Quick action of crews prevents thatched roof fire from spreading)
“It had been a warm day and all the heating had been off, but it was a really cold night, and it was freezing in the house, so we put the fire on,” explains Gemma.
“At about 7.45 there was this bang on the door and my husband shouted ‘the roof is on fire’.
“Two BT guys had phoned the fire service and then banged on our door. They were in the right place at the right time.
“I could see flames and smoke and then the first fire engine arrived.
“The firefighters were phenomenal. One of them just said to us ‘We’re sorry that we’re here’ and they told us to get back and then crew after crew arrived.”
The Millers had always taken fire safety seriously. They’d installed a fire-retardant liner across the whole roof during an earlier renovation, always made sure their chimney was swept and had smoke alarms throughout the property, including in the loft.
As they watched the crews tackle the fire they had no idea how bad the damage would be, but good progress was made and within hours they were amazed to be allowed back in.
Gemma said: “The firefighters told us to have a think about what we would want them to get out for us but within a couple of hours they said ‘We think we’ve got it’ and then we were talking about if we’d be able to go back in that night.
“They told us it was unheard of, normally this didn’t happen.”
Group Manager John Amos said: “We know that thatched roof fires have the potential to cause massive amounts of damage, not just to the roof but in many cases to the rest of the house as well.
“The fire-retardant liner did its job, and we were really pleased to be able to see this beautiful property saved and for the family to be able to go back in that night.
“There are more than 1,500 thatched properties across Hampshire and Isle of Wight and it’s really important that the owners of these houses know what steps they can take to help reduce the risk of fire.
“That’s why we’re asking everyone with a thatched property to complete the home safety check on our website, so they can get tailored advice and understand what they can do.”
- Protect your family and your home with our free Home fire safety check. It only takes around 15 minutes to complete, answering questions about your property and lifestyle. You’ll be left with personalised advice you can download.
- For more advice go to: Thatched living tips