More than 50 firefighters tackled a major thatch fire in the village of Stert last night. (March 6)

The A342 at Stert was closed for much of the night due to the ongoing fire.

On the scene, station manager Richard Humphrey explained the rapid response from firefighters.

He said: "We are looking to be on scene probably overnight, but we will scale down our response down about midnight. 

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

"However, the A342 is closed and will remain so until further notice. 

"We've got a crew coming up from Poole to support us, and we have crews from across the county. They're doing great work. 

"I'm incredibly proud of the response and it looks like we'll be able to salvage most of the property."

At the height of the fire, there were 14 fire engines, a hydraulic platform and a command support unit, supported by a Highways England team, on the scene.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

The crews were from Devizes, Calne, Trowbridge, Chippenham (x2), Marlborough, Pewsey, Frome (x2), Gillingham, Westbury, Malmesbury, Corsham and Ludgershall.

Also on scene were the aerial ladder platform from Swindon, a water carrier from Pewsey, an incident command vehicle from Stratton, and support vehicles from Gillingham and Dorchester.

Firefighters stripped the thatch from the roof around the chimney stack and were able to contain the fire to the roof, which was approx. 75% destroyed.

Alongside the firefighting operation was salvage, which saw all of the occupants’ possessions brought to safety outside.

The fire was extinguished by midnight, after which the Service maintained a one pump watching brief overnight, initially with a crew from Tisbury and then one from Westlea.

The nearby A342 was closed for some hours due to the number of appliances and vehicles parked on the road; this had reopened by 1am.

Group Manager Wayne Presley, the incident commander, said: “Our firefighters worked incredibly hard, both to contain the fire within the roof and to ensure that the occupants’ possessions were saved. I would also like to thank the local community, who pitched in and helped immensely with the salvage effort. While there is water damage to the main house, we’re hopeful that the rest of the structure is sound, and the owners can get the roof replaced and be able to move back in relatively soon.”

There are no casualties and firefighters have blocked off access to the property while they work to remove thatch and dampen down flames.

Much of the property has now been saved - and the response has now been scaled down. 

No-one was hurt, and the cottage owners lost no belongings in the fire. 

The majority of firefighters in attendance are on call.

"We couldn't do this without the on call firefighters", added Richard.

Posting on social media last night, the fire service have advised: "Access through the village is affected so please avoid if you can."