Thatch fire in Great Hockham

Compressed air foam, hose reel jets and breathing apparatus were all used as fire fighters battled a thatch fire at a house in Great Hockham last night.

Swift action by fire fighters and neighbours helped save an eighteenth century thatched cottage from complete destruction last night.

Six fire crews were called to a blaze at a house on The Street, Great Hockham, just before 11pm after the owners smelt smoke.

Neighbours reacted quickly to a call for help with one man getting on the roof of the house with a hose pipe to douse the thatch almost immediately.

Fire fighters arrived minutes later and used compressed air foam, hose reel jets and breathing apparatus to tackle the fire. They also removed a large amount of straw from the roof the create fire break.

The cottage structure and a large portion of the roof were saved in the operation and plastic sheeting has now been secured over much of the roof.

Today owner James Bisgood was assessing the damage.

He said: 'It was caused by a spark from a wood burning stove.

'The fire brigade were here incredibly quickly and neighbours helped.

'We could have lost the whole cottage. We could have been left with just the chimney stack.'