VILLAGERS have rallied round to donate more than £11,600 to a family whose home was badly damaged in a fire on Saturday.

A total of 14 fire engines attended the fire at the two-storey semi-detached house in Bucklow Avenue, Mobberley, and fire crews were at the incident for more than 24 hours.

The occupants of the property had managed to get out of the house before firefighters arrived, and one of the occupants was taken to hospital as a precaution.

A Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said the house was badly damaged by the fire, the most probable cause of which was an electrical fault in the kitchen.

In the wake of the fire Mobberley resident Shevonne Hargreaves set up an online donations page entitled ‘It is what we do best. We pull together’ to support the family.

Knutsford Guardian:

Firefighters at the property

The page has raised £11,620 from 424 donations, and anyone who would like to make a donation can click here

Shevonne said on the donations page: “If 2020 hasn’t been bad enough, could you imagine coming to the end of the year losing your home and belongings?

“I know it’s a difficult time of year, but please spare whatever you can. No matter how little, every penny will help.”

Fire crews were called out to the fire just before midday, and on arrival found the house well alight.

A Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “All occupants had made their way outside before the arrival of the crews.

“They were assessed by paramedics and one of them was taken to hospital as a precaution.

“Six fire engines were sent to the scene. A cordon was set up and four firefighters wearing breathing apparatus began using two hose reel jets to fight the fire.”

An aerial ladder platform enabled firefighters to tackle the fire from above.

The gas and electricity supplies to the house were isolated and part of Knutsford Road was temporarily closed.

A large fan was used to clear the house of smoke, and an aerial ladder platform was used to remove roof tiles and enable firefighters to access the loft space.

Firefighters removed items affected by the fire and made sure the fire had not spread to an adjacent property.

The house was monitored overnight, and inspections were carried out with a thermal imaging camera.

On Sunday morning relief crews dug out the first floor of the property, debris was removed and the aerial ladder platform returned to remove more roof tiles and roof felt.

Firefighters damped down any hotspots they found with a hose reel jet, all the roof tiles were removed and the roof was exposed to bare wood.

The spokesman added: “Once firefighters were satisfied the fire was fully out and the house was safe they left the address. They were in attendance for more than 24 hours.

“An investigation into the cause of the fire has been completed. The most probable cause is an electrical fault in the kitchen.”

Fire engines, including relief crews, attended from Northwich, Wilmslow, Poynton, Birchwood, Warrington, Congleton, Middlewich, Runcorn, Crewe, Bollington, Lymm and Greater Manchester, as well as an aerial ladder platform from Chester.