Maltby fire: “If they’d have waited another five minutes, you’d have had multiple houses going all the way up,” says councillor

Four houses on Hamilton Road were affected by the fire, which happened at around 4pm yesterday (July 19).

Councillor Simon Ball, who represents the Hellaby and Maltby West Ward at RMBC, was in the Home Bargains car park close by the properties when the inferno took hold.

“I was watching the fire building up, so I was in contact with the assistant chief fire officer, Andrew Strelczenie, to explain to him that this has the potential to be a very serious incident, because the wind took the fire, and was sending it right the way down everybody’s back gardens.

” It was the speed of the garden fires, and the garages and the sheds – it was taking hold and going right down the gardens of each individual house.”

“If they’d have waited another five minutes, you’d have had multiple houses going all the way up.”

No injuries were reported, and Maltby Leisure Centre and Maltby Town Council opened to offer refuge, food and drinks to those affected.

Miraculously, a Staffordshire Bull terrier called Dickie, who was inside one of the properties affected by the fire for more than four hours, was reunited with its owner by firefighters.

Coun Ball says Dickie had hidden under a bed, and was found “perfectly all right” by firefighters who searched the property.

Coun Ball added the South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service were “very stretched”, and the first appliance on the scene was from Derbyshire Fire and Rescue’s Dronfield base.

The emergency services working across South Yorkshire declared a major incident due to the demand on services from fires across the county yesterday, and asked people to only call 999 if lives were at risk.

” I’ve also got to give credit to the police officers who was there grabbing people out of their houses on Hamilton Road and getting them out of there,” added Coun Ball.

“It was a very serious incident that was luckily averted by the professionalism of the fire service.”