Shocked residents have spoken out about a devastating house fire on their street, saying they had 'never seen anything like it.' Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue services were called to reports of a domestic fire at 4.12pm this afternoon (October 31) in Harwood Close, Arnold, which was threatening to spread to neighbouring homes.
The 20-metre by 10-metre blaze affected two floors of the house, with one resident commenting that the fire "went from 0-100 in about 20 seconds" Four firefighting appliances, from Carlton, Stockhill, London Road, and Arnold were i.n attendance, as well as an aerial ladder platform from London Road.
No injuries were reported, with the Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue service station manager telling a reporter at the scene that people inside the house managed to exit the property before the fire developed. Residents in Harwood Close said that they had "never seen a fire take hold like that."
Charlie Teer, 69, who is retired and lives in Harwood Close, said: “At the start all I heard was the fire and before you knew it there were emergency services all over the road. It’s the second time in three months.
“We had a lightning incident as well where lightning hit a house. Luckily they were out when that happened.
“I’ve honestly never seen a house go up so quick as it did today. I’ve never seen a fire take hold like that.
“It went from 0-100 in about 20 seconds. It started at the bottom then went straight to the top.
“I hope they’re okay.”
Stewart Guthrie, 55, who also lives on the road, said: “It's very shocking. But it’s not the first time it’s happened.
“We had a house struck by lightning a couple of years ago opposite where this one happened. If you think it looked bad today you’d of been shocked when that happened.
“There were fire engines everywhere.”
Louise Turner, 57, a retail worker who lives nearby, said: "I just heard the sounds of the trucks coming down and everything else that was going on. It was awful the way it spread so fast through the house.
“It’s a shock but it’s not the first time but it’s a nice neighbourhood. I hope everybody is okay, I saw people rushing out.
“The fire service were so quick, they were brilliant.”
Crews will be working throughout the evening, and possibly through the night, to dampen the fire down and maintain safety in Harwood Close.
Jonathan Wilson, station manager for Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "At approximately 4.15 this afternoon we were mobilised to a fire at a domestic property. We've had four firefighting appliances and an aerial ladder platform here to fight the fire.
"There were no persons involved in the fire. They all exited the property before it developed too much.
"We're currently going to be working through the evening to dampen the fire down and make it safe. We'll probably be doing that all the way through the evening and maybe through the night just to make sure it's all out properly.
"It is linked to another property but the crews have worked really well to stop the fire from spreading to the other property, which is excellent."
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