A couple who died in a house fire in the early hours of Sunday morning were "two of the best", residents of their village have said. The husband and wife - who are well known locally but not yet officially identified by the police - were killed in a fire which tore through their house in St Dogmaels, Pembrokeshire.
The small close-knit community have been left "rocked to the core" by news that the couple couldn’t be saved but have taken great comfort in the way people rallied together to do their utmost. Witnesses have said it took fire crews 10 hours to get the blaze under control and 11 homes had to be evacuated due to a gas leak.
When police called Tracy Knight, manager of The White Hart Community Pub, just after 1.30am to see if she could take the evacuees, she barely hesitated and immediately opened her doors. It was thanks to her efforts that one particularly elderly resident was found a safe space for the rest of the night and following day before being delivered home late on Sunday evening.
On Monday morning, scarcely 12 hours after police confirmed the devastating news, locals ventured out onto the steep streets cautiously as temperatures hovered around -3 degrees. The words, "isn’t it awful news" are on everyone’s lips and there’s a subdued atmosphere in the sleepy village. It seems to be divided into two - those who lived on the hill above Church Lane and who looked down on to the fire and could see it unfolding, and those at the bottom of the village who’d stayed away and had only just learned of the magnitude of what had happened. People are still too shocked to talk.
The White Hart posted a message on its Facebook page early on Monday which said: "The hardest of days yesterday. We at The White Hart would like extend our sympathies to the families, friends and people affected by yesterdays events. Two of the best…they are missed so much."
The couple were regulars of the White Hart said pub manager Tracy Knight and had been in the pub for a celebratory drink on Friday and "hair of the dog" on the Saturday too.
"Obviously I opened the doors to the community inn but it was the community that stepped in," she said trying to deflect the attention. People delivered blankets to keep people warm while the pub laid on tea and toast for those taking shelter. “We’ve got so many good people here," she continued. "This community works so well together. That’s how we keep an eye on people and try and be there when we can."
A few people were taken in by locals who owned AirBnB properties, she said, while she sorted accommodation for the one elderly gentleman where he could be safe and “wait out the day”. By 8am on Sunday everyone had found a place, Tracy said. Most were allowed back into their properties on Church Lane just after 7pm on Sunday but a few stayed away on account of it being late.
The popular couple were often seen going about their business, whether in the small convenience store or the post office just round their corner. Tracy added: “They were a big part of the community who were much loved and will be much missed."
It was a local resident living above Church Lane who alerted emergency services to a fire. He’d got up in the middle of the night and had seen the flames from his window. After calling 999 he rushed to the scene along with a few others who’d heard the fire and bangs as the flames took hold. Another local, Janet White, described how her husband got up to see what the commotion was after she was woken by the wailing of the sirens and the “crackle crackle” of the flames.
Popping into the Post Office on Monday, just metres from Church Lane, she and post mistress Sally Martin offered comforting words to each other. “It’s just tragic, absolutely tragic,” said Janet. “They’ve gone together now.”
Sally said the couple were regular customers and she knew them both personally. "Tracy worked around the clock,” she said. “As soon as she knew what happened she opened up in the middle of the night. It’s a community pub and we all look to the pub as a focal point. There’s lots of us as shareholders and it’s nice to know that it did us a sterling job. We are all horribly in shock."
She added that the couple were real characters and selfless in the community. “It was impossible not to like them,” she said.
Almost directly opposite Church Lane, the Premier Convenience Store was close to the emergency response which shut the road through the village for the best part of the day. It was a quiet day as emergency crews worked but staff said they were inundated with people popping in to see if they could do anything to help.
One staff member, who didn’t want to be named but said she knew the couple personally, said the community was “rocked” by the outcome. “The community pulled together and did what needed to be done to help,” she said. “Not just people who knew them but also those who’d been affected by it. There was a lot of noise from the fire, it was very audible.”
She said she was “down on the street” within half an hour of the fire breaking out and saw the 11 homes being evacuated to the White Hart: “The manager was there through it all,” she said. “Other residents contacted people with AirBnB lets to see if they had any rooms so people didn’t have to spend the night in the pub."
Meanwhile, local business Rob Davies Motors turned up with food and drink for the emergency workers: “It showed the amazing community that we have here,” she added. “It’s proven that we have a community here who cares. We’re still reeling from it and shocked by it and I’m not sure I’ve got my head around it yet.”
County councillor for St Dogmaels, Michael James, lives in the village but was unaware of what had happened through the night until he woke in the morning. In shock himself, as he knew the couple personally, he said the way the community had come together was heart warming to see. “It was a big shock, there was lots of emotion,” he said about Sunday.
“People living at the top of the village and looking down could see the flames, everyone could see it was a serious situation. A neighbour just happened to get up in the night and heard a crackling noise. He wasn’t sure if it was hail or something else.”
He continued: "It was a very emotional day, a very stressful day. But the way that people came together, I’m so proud in the way people did work together in extremely difficult circumstances." He praised the police and fire services who he said did an “amazing job” and added that the Pembrokeshire Council housing team also attended to make sure all those displaced were safe.
Offers of accommodation and meals from local businesses poured in, including a free fish and chip supper from the Mor Ffein chip shop just round the corner from Church Lane. It said its doors would be open on Sunday evening and that "all those who have been affected or displaced by the tragic incident in the village are more than welcome to pop in for something warm to eat (on the house) and to come and sit out of the cold."
Branwen Lewis, who works at the chippy, said a couple of people had popped in for food. She’d seen the fire from her flat above the shop: “I just woke up at 3am and could see all the lights outside but I had no idea what was going on," she said. Like many, she only found out what had happened in the morning.
On Monday, an officer from Dyfed Powys Police was stationed at the entrance to Church Lane and a police cordon prevented people walking through the narrow lane. A spokesman for the force said the fire is currently being treated as "unexplained" and added: “The investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing with Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service investigators and Dyfed-Powys Police crime scene investigators at the property today."
Meanwhile, the residents of St Dogmaels continue to go about their business, comforting each other on street corners and stopping to chat on the pavement. There are few people who haven't been affected in some way.
Councillor James said that every other Sunday is a quiz night at the White Hart and the Sunday evening of the fire was the usual quiz. But no one felt like it and people just sat round the fire and chatted instead. Tracy added that there had been a prayer for the two who'd died and a minute's silence.
"We're here as a safe place to come and sit," she said. "People just needed to connect with other people. They took comfort from that."
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