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Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
World
Joshua Hartley

Neighbours relieved no one hurt in Arnold house fire that left street in 'a lot of panic'

Neighbours were glad to hear the occupants of a house were unharmed after a house fire caused panic on their street. Fire crews were called to a house fire on Birchfield Road, Arnold at around 7pm on August 15.

One resident had to be assessed by paramedics for smoke inhalation, but no other medical treatment was needed. A back garden was damaged by the fire, with charred debris left at the front of two cordoned properties.

Curtis Harper, who is the tenant of 148 Birchfield Road, one of the properties hit by the fire, said he heard a 'commotion' before being alerted to the fire. "Me and my girlfriend were sat watching TV, winding down for the evening when we heard commotion outside and a bang on the door," Mr Harper said.

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"We both quickly ran outside and saw people scrambling in a panic. I myself ran through next door’s house following a hose pipe where I found our neighbour trying to extinguish a blaze that had started in their garden.

"I then ran back outside, asked a neighbour for a hose then proceeded to attach it inside our property, trailing it through to our back garden to try help extinguish the blaze. The two hoses were doing nothing.

"Meanwhile my girlfriend had called the fire service, whom arrived in nine minutes, which is amazing - within a further five minutes there were three fire engines and crew working to extinguish the blaze which had reached high enough to destroy the soffit, fascia and guttering on ours and our neighbours property and entering the loft of both houses.

"The police also closed off the road and drones were above surveying the area. Thankfully nobody was hurt.

"Our property is said to be the worst damaged, as our ceiling in the back bedroom is now non existent and its contents not in the best condition.

"Guinness Trust [housing association] have been kind enough to provide hotel accommodation and I thank them greatly for this help, the help and work of the services involved and the support from all our neighbours, as we are a tight knit cul-de-sac having myself lived at the address for 22 years. We blame nobody for this, it's just unfortunate that however it happened it then spread to our property."

Neighbours had been panicked before the fire service arrived, but expressed their relief that no-one had been injured during the incident. Freda Walton, who is in her 60s and who lives on Birchfield Road, said: "It was pretty bad, but I couldn't see a lot of it. We do not usually have two fire engines in the street and the road cordoned off - it was an odd experience.

"It was concerning and we don't know them too well so we were worried. I'm glad that everyone is safe.

"There was a worry about it spreading but it seemed to be mostly in the garden. The two houses share roofs and they've both been cordoned off."

Mitchell Allen, 27, who works for a taxi company and lives on Birchfield Road, said: "I was at work so I hadn't really seen it. I got a phone call asking if I had seen it.

"If you look at the house you do not notice much wrong. But then you have the damage on the other side.

"The main thing is no-one got hurt."

Another Birchfield Road resident, who did not want to be named, said: "There was a lot of a panic at first before the fire service arrived, but they got here in minutes. There was a lot of drama with the cordon as well.

"The damage is at the back on the garden, I don't really know what happened there. It's fortunate no one was hurt."

The fire service were at the scene for around three hours. A Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: "We were first called to the house fire on Birchfield Road just before 7pm last night (Monday 15 August). Crews used two hose reel jets, two thermal imaging cameras, four breathing apparatus and one positive pressure ventilator for phase one smoke clearance at the property.

"All persons were accounted for, and one individual was assessed at the scene by East Midlands Ambulance Service for smoke inhalation. The property’s gas and electrics were isolated by engineers, and it was handed over to the housing association. Crews used two hose reel jets to dampen down the fire before leaving the scene around 10pm."

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