Probe as £450k dream home in Pendle gutted by blaze (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Probe as £450k dream home in Pendle gutted by blaze
12:00pm Friday 31st August 2012 in News
By Peter Magill, Chief reporter
WRECKED The gutted barn conversion in the shadow of Pendle Hill
AN investigation is now under way after a £450,000 ‘dream home’ in the shadow of Pendle Hill was gutted by fire.
Firefighters are probing how the blaze at Springbank Barn, at Higher Laithe Farm, Barley, erupted on Wednesday night.
No-one was hurt in the fire, but the property, a barn conversion, was severely damaged by the flames and the roof caved in.
Part of the roof of neighbouring Higher Laithe Cottages was also damaged and there was some smoke damage to a third barn conversion.
Forty firefighters tackled the incident at its height and water had to be pumped across fields from the nearby Lower Black Moss Reservoir.
Acting crew manager Rob Barker, of Nelson fire station, said: “By the time we were approaching the fire, we could see flames coming out of the roof.
“We had to set up relays so water could be pumped from the nearby reservoir, because of the location of the property.
“The owner of the affected property was not at home and no-one else was hurt. But the house was severely damaged by fire and the property next door was also affected.”
Fire crews from Nelson, Earby, Colne, Blackburn and Rawtenstall stations attended the blaze, off Barley Lane.
Several crews returned yesterday to ensure the final embers of the fire had been tackled, before one of the brigade’s investigators took charge of the scene.
No probable cause for the fire has yet been established.
