Video shows house engulfed in flames after major fire in St Ann's
by Joseph Connolly · NottinghamshireLiveA video sent to Nottinghamshire Live shows the moments a house in St Ann's was ravaged by a raging fire. The incident, which led to four fire engines being despatched by Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, started at around 4.50pm on Thursday (November 28).
By 5pm, the fire, at a terraced property in Paxton Gardens, had completely engulfed the house. The footage shows smoke billowing out of the windows and orange flames bursting out of rooms on both the downstairs and upstairs floors of the property.
The fire was eventually put out. But the house had been gutted by the blaze, with the interior visibly blackened, windows broken and exterior walls stained.
The daughter of the resident of the house told Nottinghamshire Live that the house had been "destroyed". Neighbours were evacuated from their homes and had to wait outside until it was ruled safe for them to return.
Ibti Hamad is a social worker who was on shift at a nearby house. She also said she didn’t realise anything was wrong until she saw the fire engines and opened the door.
She said: “As soon as we opened the door we could smell it. It was really pungent.
"There were big flames. It was coming outside the house and everything.
"We saw the family run out. It was quite big. I’ve never seen that before. It got really big, and then literally, I think, five or ten minutes after that, it was really small.
"They calmed it down. I think the immediate neighbours got told to leave.”
The area was cordoned off with fire tape while the incident was dealt with. Police later attended the scene along with the fire service and were seen talking to local residents.
NHS nurse Wayne Lewis returned from work to see the commotion.
He said: “I just thought it was a police car at first because we get quite a few at the back. I quickly rushed upstairs to see what was happening and saw they were dealing with the house.
"I hadn’t long got in. I just saw the blue lights. The guttering has melted and fallen off and all the back kitchen windows are all gone in. It was a big fire."
Another neighbour, who didn't want to be named, said: "I could just smell fire while I was cooking. I thought something was burning in my house.
"I went upstairs to check. I saw some people running from that house.
"It was a shock. I’ve never seen that before, not where I live. There were flames, big flames.”
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service issued a statement on the fire. It said: "This is a well-developed fire but there are no persons trapped. Firefighters are now working to tackle the blaze as efficiently as possible."