Pair use hose to help save fire-hit cottage in New Forest (From Bournemouth Echo)

Pair use hose to help save fire-hit cottage in New Forest

8:00am Saturday 13th March 2010 in

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TWO men grabbed a garden hose and helped prevent a 300-year-old thatched cottage from being destroyed by Fire.

Car mechanic Phil French was working at Pat’s Garage in Lyndhurst yesterday when he realised that the roof of a nearby house had caught alight.

Mr French, 44, ran across to the property, where he and another man used a hose to fight the flames until fire crews arrived.

“There was so much ash in the air it looked as if it was snowing,” he said.

“I stood on a garden wall and squirted water as high as I could, despite getting water and ash in my eyes. I’m just pleased that the owner didn’t lose her house.”

Fire crews removed some of the thatch and prevented the flames from spreading to the rest of the cottage.

Damage was confined to a narrow strip of roof at one end of the property, part of which was built in the 1700s.

The incident commander, station manager Mickey Smither, said: “The crews worked very hard in arduous conditions and did a superb job. It’s not often that we’re able to save a thatched roof.”

The cottage, at Gales Green in Romsey Road, Lyndhurst, is occupied by Vanessa Byrne and her three children.

Miss Bryne said: “I was out shopping when I had a phone call from a friend who happened to be driving past.

“I got back to find firefighters and a lot of smoke.

“The damage could have been a lot worse. Everyone involved did a fantastic job.”

A spark from a neighbour’s bonfire is thought to have started the blaze, which was tackled by six fire crews from Southampton and the New Forest.