A house has been completely gutted in a huge blaze in Burnham-On-Sea this afternoon (Wednesday) which left a family homeless and a police officer in hospital suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation.
Sixteen firefighters were called to tackle the property blaze in Burnham Road, near the junction with Marine Drive, shortly after 2pm following numerous calls from concerned members of the public who saw flames jumping out of windows.
A passing police officer who bravely helped to knock down the front door to check there were no people inside suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Burnham Road was closed while many hours while crews were at the scene and the public footpath next to the property was closed as a safety precaution. Over 30 homes were without power in the area due to the incident.
Six fire appliances from Burnham-On-Sea, Bridgwater, Cheddar, Weston worked to extinguish the blaze, helped by a turntable ladder from Avon Fire & Rescue Service.
A command support unit from Cheddar, a welfare pod from Burnham and an incident support unit from Yeovil were also sent to the scene.
The fire was not fully brought under control until 5pm and crews will remain on the scene this evening.
“A total of 4 main jets, a compressed air foam jet, 2 hose reel jets, an aerial ladder platform monitor and 16 BA wearers were used to extinguish the fire,” a spokesman told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“It caused 100% fire damage to the property and 30% by fire to an adjacent property.”
“The cause of the fire has yet to be established and is currently under investigation.”
