FIREFIGHTERS have been praised for their efforts in putting out a fire which burned down a woodwork workshop in North Eggardon last weekend.
The workshop is on an old farmyard which is also home to three other woodwork workshops and a family that lives onsite. No one was injured in the fire and only one workshop was damaged.
Adrian Janssen was the tenant of the workshop that burned down. He said: "I got a phone call I think maybe 10 minutes after the fire was spotted. Losing a workshop like that to a man is worse than losing his house. I was devastated to hear it had burned down.
"Nothing was saved. It is a twisted wreckage there now. I have got to take it on the chin and I don't have any choice but to get on with it. I know at the end of the day it is all just stuff but it is upsetting to lose it all. It has taken me 10 years to get the workshop the way I wanted it but age and experience should make it a shorter time building it up again.
"It takes a few days to get over something like this but I've just got to draw a line under it and move on. The financial loss is quite substantial and there was a lot of old stuff inside the workshop, some of which I will not be able to replace. My sawmill is still operating which is good.
"The main thing is that no one was hurt and no one's house burned down. I would like to thank the fire service for their brilliant work in containing the fire. I especially want them to know how grateful me and my partner Vanessa are to them."
Jeremy Snell lives onsite at the farm with his wife and three daughters. He and his wife called the fire service after their daughters noticed the flames when they were going to bed last weekend. He said: "There was a lot of smoke billowing out of the building and flames were coming out of the roof. The fire brigade took about 20 minutes to arrive and we were so worried during that time."
Victor Crutchley is the owner of the site. He said: "There was a total feeling of helplessness when we saw the fire. The flames were so violent. The fire brigade said that you could see the fire in Bridport it was so big."
Firefighters were at the farm for over six hours tackling the flames and ensuring that the rest of the buildings were safe.
Mr Crutchley added: "The firefighters were brilliant. They were so calm, kind and well equipped. Once they got here we knew everything was going to be okay."
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e: josie.klein@newsquest.co.uk
Twitter: @echo_josie
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