Pictures Isle of Wight thatched cottage fire in Calbourne

Isle of Wight firefighters were called to Elm Lane yesterday evening, just after 7pm, when flames and smoke were first seen.

The road is about expected to reopen shortly, after efforts to contain the blaze continued into the early hours of the morning.

The true scale of the damage is now visible with thatch pulled from the roof of the cottage, into the road, to stop the fire spreading.

More than 50 firefighters spent the night tackling the fire - including those from Newport, Freshwater, Cowes, East Cowes, Ryde and Shanklin.

They were joined by Hampshire-based firefighters from St Mary’s, Fareham, Southsea, Hightown, Cosham, Havant, Eastleigh and Portchester at the incident in Elm Lane.

Firefighters wore breathing apparatus and used water jets and the aerial ladder platform while thatch was stripped from the roof and salvage operations began.

By 4am, significant progress had been made to strip thatch from the roof, said Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue, and the incident officially ended just after 5.20am.

The ground floor of the cottage has been 100 percent damaged by smoke and water and the first floor is estimated to have been 80 percent damaged.

Group Manager, Justin Harden, said: “Thatch fires are notoriously difficult and the crews worked tirelessly throughout the night. My thanks to them for their dedication and for managing to salvage most of the owner’s personal property while the fire was happening.

“The cause of the fire was accidental. It’s believed to have started when a fire was lit in the hearth.

“Incidents like these show how important it is for chimneys to be swept and inspected.”

One crew remained on scene this morning to dampen down and check for hotspots.

No-one was hurt, emergency teams has said, but there was some local flooding as fire crews battled to contain the fire.

• VIDEO Isle of Wight thatched cottage fire latest from Calbourne