Investigation into cause of major house fire in Huntingdon

Firefighters battled for more than five hours to extinguish a blaze which broke out in the loft of a house in Huntingdon.

Crews from Huntingdon, Papworth, Cambridge, St Neots and Sawtry were called to a fire in the roof of a semi-detached house in Temple Close, shortly before 11pm on Thursday.

Firefighters used two hose reels and two covering jets to extinguish the flames, using a Multistar aerial appliance to direct the water onto the roof of the house.

Station commander at Huntingdon, Per Middleton, praised the crews for their work preventing the fire from spreading to the property next door, which suffered only a small amount of water damage.

He said: “Upon arrival the crews were met with a well-developed fire in the loft area of a semi-detached house. All of the residents from both properties had evacuated. A sustained effort confined the fire to the top floors of the affected dwelling and protected the adjoining one from becoming involved.

“Crews worked for over five hours both internally wearing breathing apparatus and externally at roof level with the multistar aerial appliance to stop the fire. Their hard work and determination prevented the adjoining property from becoming involved.

“The residents of both properties did exactly the right thing, getting out of the properties quickly, staying out and calling the fire service.”

Crews returned to their stations by about 4am, but went back to the scene the following morning to check for hotspots and dampen down areas.

According to a spokesman for the service, investigators have yet to determine the cause of the blaze.