A MAJOR blaze which ripped through a terrace of six privately rented houses in Porlock Weir this week was thought to have started in a chimney.

The roofs and first floors of two thatched properties were destroyed by fire and water and others damaged in the incident, which began on Monday evening (May 1) and took almost 24 hours to put out.

A spokesperson for Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue (DSFRS) said: “The fire is suspected to have started in a chimney and spread to the thatch.

At its height, DFRS had 26 fire appliances at the scene from 24 different fire stations mobilised from across a large area of Somerset and Devon.

The fire crews worked right through the night on Monday into Tuesday to put out the flames and strip thatch to prevent the blaze spreading further.

They remained on scene right through until late afternoon on Tuesday damping down hot spots which were identified with a thermal image camera.

The DFRS spokesperson said two adjoining thatched properties were severely damaged by the fire, and another house suffered smoke and water damage.

Firefighting teams used breathing apparatus, hose reel jets, 45 mm jets, ladders, a thermal image camera, and small tools to tackle the blaze.

The incident was handed over to a Porlock Estates team as the last of the fire crews left the scene on Tuesday.