Farm Shop Dodges Fire Destruction

However, firefighters responded quickly and were able to put the fire out before it had a chance to spread to the farm shop. The blaze was started when an unattended candle set fire to a piece of clothing in an upstairs bedroom. The room was destroyed and the rest of the house suffered smoke damage.

The business is owned by Nicky Chambers, who opened the shop with her cousin, Tim Pick, 12 years ago. “At the beginning we were selling from a small shed on the farm, so loosing it would have been absolutely devastating considering how much time we’ve spent building it up,” says Ms Chambers. “I’m just thankful that the shop is in one piece and no one was hurt. The firefighters came within about ten minutes and I can’t praise them enough.”

The fire started on December 30th when Nicky’s daughter left a tea light unattended in her bedroom for a few minutes. “She tried to put the fire out herself, but it was spreading too quickly. Luckily, Tim had the good sense to close the bedroom door to isolate the fire. If he hadn’t done that, I think things would have turned out very differently.”

At present, the farm shop is up and running as normal, but Nicky and her two children have been forced to live with friends while the house is repaired. “However, Tim is still living on site because he has the farm to run! It hasn’t been the best start to 2011, but it could have been so much worse,” she adds.