Firefighters from 2 counties battle Woolton Hill blaze

Staff accommodation at stud uninhabitable after roof destroyed

FIREFIGHTERS from two counties battled a Woolton Hill roof fire for five hours overnight last night (Mon/Tues), preventing the blaze from engulfing a neighbouring property.

Both pumps from Newbury, one from Reading and a further four Hampshire pumps were called to cottages off Tile Barn Row at 11.50pm yesterday (Mon).

Gainsborough Stud confirmed the property was owned by the stud and used as staff accommodation, with no-one hurt.

On arrival, firefighters discovered flames licking through the roof, with smoke issuing all around the roof.

Ten firefighters wearing breathing apparatus fought the blaze from both inside and outside the building.

The tiles were stripped from the roof by firefighters, to prevent the fire spreading to the adjoining property:

"The fire had started to spread to next door via the roof space," said a firefighter who was at the scene.

"It was a well developed roof fire and could easily have taken the neighbouring property," he said.

Adjacent, empty stables were unaffected by the fire.

The affected cottage suffered severe damage in the incident, with both this building and the neighbouring property affected by water damage.

The adjoining building was affected by minimal damage.

The road adjacent to the properties was closed throughout the incident.

The Red Cross support team for victims of fire were at the scene.

The cause of the blaze remained under investigation by fire services today (Tues), in the incident led by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Firefighters left the scene at 4.45am, returning for a further inspection at 7am, with further, periodic inspections scheduled every four hours.