A DEVASTATING fire completely destroyed a cottage in Linchmere on Saturday, leaving a couple with nothing except the clothes they were wearing. The fire at Danley Lane broke out in the afternoon while the couple were out and one of them, nurse Patricia Eva arrived home to find fire crews tackling the blaze. Appliances from Liphook, Grayshott, Haslemere, Midhurst, Petworth and Chichester were called to the scene at 1.53pm and firefighters carried out a search to make sure no one was inside. Water was pumped from a swimming pool in the grounds, to help douse the flames, and crews had the fire under control by 4.10pm, but were still damping down the building at midnight. Neighbours had tried to contact Tom and Patricia Eva, but their mobile phones were in the house. A friend of the couple, Mrs Jenneson, was then contacted and tried to find them, but meantime Mrs Eva had arrived home from visiting her elderly mother to find fire appliances surrounding the area. Mr and Mrs Eva, both in their 60s, are now staying with Mrs Jenneson in Waterlooville. They have lost all their possessions, which were not insured, although the building, in the grounds of Danley Hill, was rented to the South African couple and is insured. Mrs Jenneson said: "We have been friends for a long time. One of the neighbours contacted me to ask where they were, I had just been told they were looking for the Evas and did not realise what had happened. When I got there, there were appliances all over the place." Meanwhile, Mrs Eva had gone back home and suddenly saw the engines, also not realising at first, they were at her cottage. "We had to go and find Tom, who was working in Milland, and break the news to him," she said. Mr Eva said he was extremely grateful to the fire crew who were "first class" and to the Red Cross Fire Support Unit, who helped them afterwards. The couple were having problems because all their papers, bank details and documents were destroyed in the fire. Mrs Jenneson said: "We have managed to salvage a shirt for Tom, but they have lost everything else. Paddy, who is a nurse at Chase hospice, even lost her uniform in the fire. We had to buy them clothes because they had nothing else to wear. She added: "They will be stopping with us until they find somewhere suitable."
