Firefighters have worked through the night to contain a blaze which destroyed a family-run country pub, bbc.co.uk reports.
Two fire crews from Huntingdon were called to the Hartford Mill public house in Hartford Marina at 4:25am this morning (August 8th) after the family living inside raised the alarm.
Whilst everyone from inside had vacated to safety, the fire had already spread from where it started in the dining room and was entering the roof void. From there it spread to engulf the entire pub, with only the function room being saved, although it was severely smoke damaged.
The destruction of not only a local pub but also the home of those who lived inside illustrates the importance of a fire risk assessment for both businesses and properties.
The severity of the fire prompted crews to call for backup from nearby stations, with engines eventually being sent from Chatteris, Ramsey, Sawtry, St Ives, St Neots, Sutton and Yaxley. In addition, the MultiStar +1 aerial rescue vehicle was sent, along with the Incident Command Unit.
Firefighters remain at the site to dampen down hotspots and are expected to remain there for most of the day. A fire investigation is also set to take place in order to determine the cause of the fire.
Speaking of the operation, incident commander Richard Dykes told peterboroughtoday.co.uk: “Due to the severity of the fire when we arrived, we were unable to save the public house itself, but were able to stop it from spreading to the function room.
“This was a large fire, which has destroyed the home of a family and a popular venue used by the local community. Thankfully, everyone was able to get out of the property quickly and unharmed.”