Week St Mary house fire stopped at a closed door, say Bude crew

One side of the door is burnt black. The other is clean oak, with a key still hanging in the lock.

Firefighters from Bude say that door, and the fact it was shut, is a large part of why a house fire near Week St Mary did not reach the kitchen on Friday afternoon (2 October).

The pagers went at 2.24pm, Bude Community Fire Station said in a post about the incident, to a reported house fire in the roof. The station described it as the first shout of its kind after “a reasonably quiet few weeks”.

📷Credit: Bude Community Fire Station

Three crews sent to the fire near Week St Mary

Two pumps were mobilised from Bude and another from Launceston.

Once on scene, a team of two firefighters wearing breathing apparatus (BA) was sent to the utility area to knock the fire back. A second team of two went through the house to stop it spreading any further.

With the fire under control inside, a BA crew of two from Launceston were tasked with removing roof tiles to stop it spreading through the roof.

In total the crews used 10 BA wearers, four hose reel jets, a main jet, two triple extension ladders and two roof hooks.

📷Credit: Bude Community Fire Station

The door between the utility and the kitchen

The station said a fire door fitted between the two rooms was “a large factor” in the fire not spreading to the kitchen. “Importantly,” it added, “it was kept closed.”

Its photos show both faces of the same door. On the utility side the timber is charred and cracked from top to bottom, with the roof open to the sky behind it. On the kitchen side there are smoke marks on the walls and frame, and the door itself looks close to untouched.

“Fire doors save lives and protect properties by containing the fire and smoke,” the station said. “The pictures show just how important they are and how well it worked on this incident.”

📷Credit: Bude Community Fire Station

📷Credit: Bude Community Fire Station