Fire crews attend severe house fire in Staffordshire village

A fire tore through the roof and first floor of a Wombourne home as an elderly occupant was helped out of the building by a passer by.

The fire at Bratch Lane, Wombourne, started at around 12.30pm on Saturday and destroyed more than half of the roof, three bedrooms and the landing on the floor where it began.

It is believed to have started due to an electric fan heater left on in an upstairs bedroom.

Crews from Dudley and Tettenhall arrived at the scene first, followed by fire fighters from Bilston, while a crew from Staffordshire also attended to help control the situation later on.

Several members of the public made initial calls to fire crews and Crew Commander Carl Hill said an elderly gentleman had been helped out of the building by a passer by prior to their arrival.

He said: "We were called to the scene of a severe fire at a semi detached house in Wombourne, where a fire had broken out due to an electric fan heater.

"The fire was contained to three rooms which were left gutted and seventy per cent of the roof was also destroyed.

"We understand a member of the public helped an elderly gentleman evacuate the building before we arrived but that person didn't stay at the scene.

"Due to smoke detectors being installed the occupant received early warning and was presumably making his way out at the time."

Four engines and one hydraulic platform were used by fire fighters to extinguish the flames, which were put out within an hour, with crews from Stafford staying until the evening to keep an eye on the situation.

The road was blocked while appliances were at the scene.