Home Page Haverhill News

Fire broke out in Duddery Road today at around 11:00am this morning.

The disused barn known as Fullers Yard was ablaze with plumes of black smoke that could be seen easily from across the town.

Pauline Hodgins called 999 when she saw that the barn was on fire. "I could smell burning and went outside to investigate. I immediately called the fire brigade and by the time I had finished the call the back garden was obliterated by thick smoke - it was so fast."

Fire crews arrived quicky to get the fire under control, whilst Police evacuated nearby homes in Eden Road, Duddery Road and Mount Road.

Jo-Anne Watts of Mount Road and her two children heard a knock at her door, "I was surprised to see a policeman standing there and even more surprised to hear him say that there was a fire and we had to evacuate the house immediately," she said.

"I didn't know what to think at first but as we walked up the road I could see huge plumes of smoke coming from the barn."

Residents had to stand on the roadside 200 metres away from the scene for safety; others stayed with friends and family nearby.

By 2:00pm fire crews had the blaze under control although the roads were still closed.

Duddery Road currently has no electricity as fire damage to the electricity pylon will take time to repair. (as at 7:30pm)

At 7:00pm diggers were called in to take down what was left of the barn to make the site safe.

Investigations into the cause of the fire are underway.


Low quality mobile phone video of the clean-up operation is available to view. Click the link at the bottom of the page.

Click To View the Video >>>