A YELLOW Labrador dog named Lulu was rescued by neighbours as a huge fire damaged four homes in a West Somerset village on Sunday (March 16).

Lulu, who turned four years old on Tuesday, is owned by retired vicar the Rev John Thorogood, who as the fire took hold was giving a sermon in St Andrew’s Church, Minehead.

Mr Thorogood, who retired as Vicar of Dulverton in 2013 and moved to Withycombe, apologised to his congregation as his mobile phone began vibrating.

He told worshippers he was not going to answer the phone ‘unless his house was on fire’.

It turned out his home in West Street, Withycombe, was among those which were damaged by radiant heat from the blaze, which destroyed two outbuildings and three heating oil tanks.

Mr Thorogood told the Free Press it would not have been appropriate to answer his phone during the church service and so he was not given the news until it was over.

Although retired, Mr Thorogood said he would help the Church when asked, especially in Minehead where he worshipped when he was not involved in leading services.

Mr Thorogood said: “One of my neighbours who had a key to the house came over and took my dog and looked after her.

“The house really was not touched much at all.

“The heat melted a bit of the conservatory plastic.

“I am very lucky, really.”

Coincidentally, when Mr Thorogood returned home the first person he met was a Dulverton firefighter whom he knew from his time as the town’s vicar.

The Withycombe fire broke out 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 (DSFR) 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.

The four homes which were affected suffered moderate heat and fire damage to about 10 per cent of the buildings.

A DSFR spokesperson said the cause of the fire, which began in a shed, was believed to have been accidental.