Investigation into raging fire which tore through Shipdham home

Fire fighters at the scene of a fire in Shipdham on the A1075. Picture: Matthew Usher. (Image: © ARCHANT NORFOLK 2016)

Emergency services rushed to a home in, Watton Road, in Shipdham, yesterday, after receiving reports of flames near the Old Post Office Street junction.

They were called by Ivan Chubbock, who lives close to the site. He said he saw the fire and called 999 at around 4.30am.

Firefighters were met by a huge building fire that had engulfed outer buildings and a wooden bungalow.

For more than seven hours there were six fire engines, a water carrier and an aerial ladder platform at the scene.

Relief engines arrived throughout the morning while fire engines drove to nearby sites to refill their water tanks.

Smoke could be seen filling the sky from the Shipdham area for miles.

Pete Rowe, incident commander for Norfolk Fire and station manager at Sprowston, said: 'There was a bonfire nearby that had been burning for some time, but when we arrived we were met by a considerably large building fire. The outer buildings and bungalow were joint and half of it was used for a private dwelling and the other parts were workshops and a garage.'

It is currently unknown if the nearby bonfire caused the blaze.

No one needed to be rescued or was hurt in the fire, however a woman was treated by paramedics for shock and discharged without any further injuries.

The house owner's dogs were removed to a safe place.

The operation was scaled back at around 1.30pm, with some fire crews leaving the site.

However a reduced amount of firefighters continue to extinguish hotspots until around 5pm.

Seven homes were left without power for more than five hours.

Police closed the A1075 at Shipdham at around 4.55am and advised people to avoid the area.

The road was closed between the Long Road junction and the Old Post Office Street junction.

Norfolk police originally said that the road closure would be in place for around three hours, however this was then extended and continued into the afternoon.