'I thought it was my house on fire': Neighbours recall horror at Cradley house fire

Residents living near a house where a fire broke out have spoken of their own shock and horror at what had happened and their fears for their own properties at the time.

The fire had broken out on the ground floor of a terraced house on Two Gates Lane in Colley Gate in Cradley on Tuesday afternoon, with fire crews from across the Black Country working to extinguish the blaze.

Eye-witness accounts at the time reported large amounts of smoke above the area, while Two Gates Lane was closed to allow emergency services to carry out their work.

The morning after, the house was quiet and, apart from smoke damage on the ground floor front window, looked from street level to have escaped the worst of the fire.

However, a view of the back of the house told a different story, with back windows boarded up, a large amount of burnt and blackened furniture across the back garden and smoke damaged visible up the back of the house, as well as damaged guttering.

The tenants of the house were not present, but their neighbours were still taking in the enormity of what had happened, as well as, in some cases, counting their blessings about their properties being untouched.

Bob Skelding lives in one of the houses next door to where the fire broke out and said he’d been lucky with the wind was blowing.

He said: “I was sitting in the house when I looked out and saw some smoke, then all of a sudden, people were telling me that the house next door was on fire at the back.

“It did leave me very worried at the time. but the fire brigade were very quick to get here and tackled it then, after the fire was out, they came to check my loft and everything and told me everything was alright.

“I was lucky as the wind was blowing the other way, so it stopped it from catching onto my house and, for that, I’m very grateful.”

Another resident, who asked not to be named, said she’d been very afraid of what could have happened when the fire broke out.

She said: “The first I knew what was going on was when I looked outside and saw police and ambulances and fire engines and while I couldn’t see the fire, I could smell it, so I looked out of the back window and saw black plumes of smoke, then I could actually see flames.

“It was really shocking and I started worrying about my house, as we all share a roof space, so I asked the fire crews and they asked me if I had smoke alarms and, after I said yes, they said to only leave my house if those go off.

“I was really frightened as I could see the flames coming out of the back of their conservatory, but I am just relieved now that it’s over and the fire is out and, after a few hours of water being off, things have gotten back to normal.”

It had been an equally shocking time for a neighbour living on the other side of the house, with the woman, who asked not to be named, saying that she’d received a phone call and panicked at the news.

She said: “I work at the local school and a parent said to me that it looked like my house was on fire, so I rushed back in a panic and found it was next door where, luckily, there was no one in, so I went into my home and got my cat.

“The house is ok, just some black up the back of the house onto my daughter’s window and the outside of the double glazing has blown, but we‘ve been very lucky.

“I’ve spoken to the neighbours since and they’re just distraught at what has happened and have had to find temporary places to live while the house gets sorted.”

A spokesman for West Midlands Fire Service said: “Shortly before 2.45pm on Tuesday, November 10, we responded to Two Gates Lane in the Cradley area of Dudley.

“Three fire engines and two 4x4 brigade response vehicle from Haden Cross, Brierley Hill and Oldbury stations attended, the first arriving within five minutes of being mobilised.

“This was a severe fire affecting the ground floor of a two-storey house. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus worked to extinguish the blaze. There was no-one home at the time.

“The fire is believed to have started accidentally in a tumble dryer.

“Around a quarter of the property was damaged by fire, and two thirds by smoke.

“Neighbouring properties and loft spaces were checked, with no signs of fire spreading internally.

“However, an adjoining property sustained external damage to its roofline, bedroom window and shed roof.”