FOUR homes were damaged and a number of outbuildings and oil tanks were destroyed in a huge blaze in a West Somerset village on Sunday morning (March 16).

The blaze broke out in West Street, Withycombe, shortly after 10 am and the column of black smoke could be seen from as far away as Blue Anchor.

One eye witness told the Free Press: “I saw the fire start, not very big, but in less than 10 minutes it was burning down everything.”

Crews from nine fire stations across Somerset were called to tackle the incident as Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue received multiple emergency calls.

They included Minehead, Williton, Porlock, Dulverton, Wiveliscombe, Nether Stowey, Taunton, and Bridgwater.

The initial reports were of a barn fire and two pumping appliances and a water carrier were quickly mobilised, but further appliances were despatched as other callers gave more detailed information to the fire control room staff.

The first firefighters to arrive on scene then called for extra resources and the number of pumping appliances was increased to six.

A command support unit, an environmental protection unit, and an incident support team were also sent.

Twelve set of breathing apparatus were used by the firefighters with one main jet and three hose reel jets as they put out the flames, and thermal imaging cameras were used to check for any hotspots.

Two outbuildings and three heating oil tanks were destroyed and four nearby homes suffered moderate heat and fire damage affecting about 10 per cent of the buildings.