Residents whose homes were caught at the heart of a blaze at the weekend have praised the emergency services who battled the flames.

A terrace of four thatched cottages at The Barracks in Bransbury, near Andover, caught alight on March 7. Hundreds of firefighters were present at the fire’s peak, with one of the cottages saved after hours of work by the emergency services.

Abi Bettle-Shaffer, a resident of the saved cottage, said that the fire service had been “incredible.”

“They’ve been phenomenal,” she said. “Everyone’s safe, and they managed to get as much sentimental stuff as they could out of the building.”

Firefighters were called to the cottages at 4:17pm on Sunday, after fire alarms went off in all the cottages. For Abi, who has lived in the terrace for seven years with her husband Mark, this in itself was not an unusual occurrence.

“The fire alarms go off every time you burn toast,” she said. “You end up getting a lot of practice.”

However, this time, it became apparent that it was more serious. Abi said that the alarms first went off in the second cottage before the rest of the building’s were set off, leading to the whole buildng evacuating.

“I was quite impressed with our reaction,” the 32-year-old said. “We got kids, dogs and important documents all out before the fire crews arrived.”

Fire crews arrived within 12 minutes of the call, and began tackling the blaze. The road was closed as 116 firefighters and 19 fire engines battled the flames into the night. While the teams fought to save the building, they were also able to salvage belongings from in the building.

“They managed to get as much sentimental stuff as they could out of the building,” Abi said. “They got loads of stuff out.”

At around 4AM in the morning, fire crews were reduced to focus on removing the thatch and fighting the small fire that is continuing in the roof. “It’s really difficult to put out a thatch fire,” said Abi. “There’s a bit in one of the bedrooms that’s a bit stubborn and won’t go out.”

Recovery work was still going on the following morning, as Kylie Miles and her family gathered as much as they could from the remains of their cottage. They had only moved in just before lockdown started.

Kylie’s stepsister, Gemma, said that it looked like the couple had “lost everything”, and set up a fundraiser to help them. In particular, their six-year-old daughter having had many of her belongings destroyed. Kylie’s mum said at 2AM, her granddaughter had been “crying for her tablet and blanket”.

However, amongst the wreckage of the home, the tablet was pulled, working, from the rubble on Monday afternoon. The blanket is also thought to have survived, but is as yet inaccessible.

“We want to say a big thank you to the fire crews,” said Kylie and her mother. “They did more than what they needed to. They said they’re paid for it, but nothing says thank you like the human element of giving back to them.”

This human element is also very much present in Bransbury, where neighbours have banded together to provide support to those affected by the fire.

“Everyone had places to sleep before all the fire engines were here,” said Abi. “That’s the beauty of life in a small community.”

While their cottage is the least-damaged of the terrace, the Bettle-Shaffers are not allowed to stay in their property while the rest of the building is unsafe. They plan on staying in the area for a couple of days before looking for somewhere to go while the property is rebuilt, which is expected to take at least a year. However, they hope to return as soon as they can.

“There’s a plaque on the front of the terrace saying: ‘Restored 1900’,” said Abi. “I think there will be another one now.”

To donate to the fundraiser for the Miles family, you can follow this link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gemma-chopra-1