FIREFIGHTERS were stretched to the maximum last Thursday when, with Farnham’s fire engine busy tackling a fire at two thatched cottages in Lower Froyle, their stand-ins from Woking were called out to a wildfire at Hankley Common.

An eventful night began when two families were left homeless after a blaze destroyed their Grade II listed thatched cottages at Lower Froyle on November 30, but they escaped unhurt. The fire broke at 3.57pm, and 10 fire engines attended including crews from Farnham.

Using water from the near-by village pond they fought the blaze as it roared through the 18th century building. The crews kept watch throughout the night, damping down the smouldering ruins, and watching for any more outbreaks. They finally left the scene at 4.59am.

With Farnham’s crew otherwise engaged, firefighters from Woking were called in to cover.

Having already supported the ambulance service getting a casualty from a difficult location into the ambulance, at around 11.10pm on November 30, they were called to a fire at Hankley Common.

“On arrival, crews were faced with a large fire front, with approximately four hectares of undergrowth alight.... in December…!!!,” firefighters later posted on Woking fire station’s Facebook page.

“Additional resources were required to extinguish the fire, 4x4 vehicles and water carriers were required from Farnham, Godalming, Haslemere, Guildford. It was a difficult fire to extinguish on undulating and boggy ground.”

The wildfire was finally extinguished at around 3.30am on Friday morning, with Woking crews arriving back to base at 4.15am to service their kit and prepare to handover to the next day’s crew.