Families in a west Norfolk village have described their frantic rushes to flee their homes and rescue their pets as flames tore through their properties.
Ashill, near Watton, was covered in smoke on Tuesday, July 19 as a blaze in the field behind The Oaks "rapidly developed" due to the heat - spreading to a row of properties near The Green and engulfing nearby homes and gardens.
Emergency Services were called to the fire at around 5pm with 14 fire engines and support appliances, including crews from as far as Merseyside and Tyne and Wear.
At least 11 properties have been lost in the fire including the old post office building, and five houses on the Edward Close estate.
On Thursday, firefighters were still on scene dampening down hotspots in the village after being called back four times overnight.
And some of those affected by the blaze were allowed to return to collect belongings, with people carrying out children's clothes on hangers and essential items that they can live on in the weeks to come.
Among them was Alex Cockburn, 31, and Thomas Longhurst, 31, from Edward Close, who consider themselves to be the "lucky ones".
Their home is just two of seven of the properties on the estate that has not been destroyed, with houses on either side "burnt to the ground".
They said: "Our house is intact. The only damage is to a bit of our garden.
"We're feeling emotional and a bit like survivor's guilt because our houses and belongings are safe.
"We're feeling incredibly sad for our neighbours who have nothing left."
Mr Longhurst, who was home at the time of the incident, managed to get their four cats and three dogs to safety after a neighbour alerted him to the fire.
He shared how everyone on the estate managed to flee their homes within 10 minutes.
"We're thankful for our community and grateful more than anything", the pair said.
"We have been advised to get everything out of the house and into storage.
"We have got essential things we can survive on, what we can carry.
"We don't know where we will be in two weeks."
They are currently staying with a work colleague and are looking for a place that will house both them and their pets after being told they will be unable to live in their home for the time being.
They said: "The houses around will be demolished and rebuilt.
"There's no electricity, gas, water. It's going to be a building site for a while."
The impact of the fire was being felt across the village with gardens on Acacia Drive and The Green also caught up in the flames.
A man, who asked to be named, shared how he had helped his 76-year-old mother and her dog Florence to safety, leaving behind a cat he could not find and three chickens.
He said he had visited his mother half an hour before fire took hold of the field and had seen the flames make their way over to her home on The Green.
He said: "I did what I could with the water but it was hopeless and bundled mum in the car."
The pair watched from a distance as "billows of smoke" went up and the corners of the roof on the 76-year-old's home started going up.
The son said: "I had to speak to mum in the car and said 'do you want to see this?' and she said 'no', so I moved the car around and went to the community centre.
"It was minutes before it went from the bottom of the hedge up to the fence."
It was not until they were able to return to the home on Wednesday that they found the cat and chickens had survived.
The majority of the garden has been left charred after a 6ft fence between neighbouring properties, a greenhouse, dog kennel and chicken run caught alight.
A broken window to the rear of the house appears to be the only damage to the house, with the fire also narrowly missing a classic car sat in the garage.
Another villager, living near to Edward Close, commended police officers for their "brilliant" response in evacuating people from their homes in the area.
She said: "One policewoman from Watton just got on scene and was knocking on doors and getting people out.
She added: "It really could have been half the village.
"We have been so lucky."
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