Boxing Day house fire prompts early morning call-out

Firefighters were called to a house fire following an early morning Boxing Day call-out.

The owner of a property in Church Road, Eversley, near Hook, dialled 999 at just before 01:40 to report that the roof was on fire.

Everyone was safely out of the property and the roof was well alight when the first crews arrived on scene.

Firefighters from Yateley, Fleet, Rushmoor, Odiham, Bordon, Basingstoke, Eastleigh and Alton attended, along with the incident command unit and members of the Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) unit. Colleagues from Berkshire and Surrey were also mobilised.

Group Manager Craig Gregory, incident commander, said: “The occupier realised the roof was on fire, raised the alarm and got everyone out before calling us.

“Crews worked really hard and were able to limit the fire spread to the roof and first floor of the house, using jets and working off of ladders, to protect and salvage the property.”

Firefighters wore breathing apparatus to check for internal fire spread.

The stop message was received at 08:20 but crews are expected to remain on scene for a while to clear up and dampen down.

The cause of the fire is unknown and will be investigated, although it is not believed that there are any suspicious circumstances.

Update 20:00: The remaining crews left the scene at around 15:30 after staying to check for hotspots. A reinspection was carried out at 19:00 with no further issues found.

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