Shed fires damage street light in Billingshurst

According to West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, Billingshurst Fire Station's retained firefighters were called before midnight on Wednesday to a fire in the back garden of a property in Cherry Tree Close.

Faced with a well-established fire crews wearing breathing apparatus brought the fire under control quickly using two high pressure hose reels and one jet. The fire involved two sheds, the fence, a hedgerow, and also damaged the street light.

They remained at the scene after the fire was extinguished using a thermal imaging camera to ensure there were no further hotspots. They left the scene just before 1.30am, but it was closer to 3am by the time firefighters were able to return home after stowing the appliance and all of its equipment away.

On Thursday, the team was mobilised to Horsham Fire Station at 10.52am to provide cover while the crew there were mobilised to attend to a fire involving a washing machine. This is a common practice and ensures that there is always a fire engine ready to respond where it is needed most at all times.

The crew was then mobilised to a kitchen fire in Henfield at 11.37am.

Billingshurst Crew Commander Mathew Gravell said: “When we arrived at the property on Mallard Way, Henfield crews were already in attendance and were busy preparing their breathing apparatus wearers to tackle the fire, we supported Henfield with 2 of our own Breathing apparatus wearers, the fire was in an extraction unit over the cooker. but our appliances are well-equipped to deal with this type of incident In this instance we were able to use the fog nail to get water into the cavity wall to extinguish the fire.”

Retained firefighters often have full-time jobs elsewhere, but live or work within close proximity to a fire station and are paged to respond to emergencies as and when they are required.

To find out more about becoming an retained firefighter visit: https://www.westsussex.gov.uk/fire-emergencies-and-crime/west-sussex-fire-and-rescue-service/fire-rescue-recruitment/become-an-on-call-firefighter