Praise for firefighters after blaze rips through workshop in Godmanchester
Emergency services have been praised for their quick thinking and support in tackling a blaze which destroyed a workshop in Godmanchester.
Steve Fairweather was at home, in Cambridge Road, on June 19, with his partner Nili Getman when their attention was drawn to the garden after their dog had come running into the house and started barking.
It was then that Mr Fairweather noticed that his workshop had become engulfed in flames.
“It was a huge fire, the flames were lighting up the air, it was noticed a long way away. My neighbours said that children at the school could see it in the playground,” Ms Getman said.
Mr Fairweather, 51, dialled 999 and crews from Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service, along with Cambridgeshire police officers, were on the scene within minutes, shortly after 12.30pm.
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“My partner phoned me and I got there about 40 minutes or so after the fire started and the guys were already dampening it down – it was just amazing,” Ms Getman added.
“You wouldn’t have known that anything had happened if there wasn’t a big black hole in our garden.”
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The couple have praised the support given to them by the fire crews and police officers during the blaze.
“The fire brigade and the police were amazing, Steve was obviously so distressed and they were calming him down and keeping him out of the way,” said Ms Getman.
After seeing the destruction, Ms Getman, 46, says she was in shock but was comforted by the kindness of the emergency services.
She said: “They even made sure my chickens were alright.”
The fire destroyed the workshop and burnt fences that surround the couple’s garden. Mr Fairweather also lost a selection of tools, some of which had been in his possession for years.
“We are just so grateful to all of them; they were talking to us and explained what was happening the whole time,” Ms Getman said.
“Our neighbours were just outstanding as well as they were offering us help, we are just grateful.”
Firefighters returned to the property that afternoon and the following day to check on the debris and the couple too.
A fire investigation concluded that the cause of the fire was accidental.
