A FAMILY had a lucky escape when a passer-by alerted them to a fire which had broken out in their roofspace.
The blaze at the Grade II listed property on West Bank, Winster, was spotted just before 10pm on Sunday.
Two crews of firefighters from Matlock initially attended the scene but called for back-up from a further two engines.
Station manager A
lan Richmond, who was incident commander, said: "A passer-by spotted smoke and sparks from underneath the tiles of the roof, knocked on the door and said 'do you realise your roof is on fire?'
"The male occupant raised the alarm and got his family — wife and three children — out safely. "It was very fortunate. They were very lucky there was somebody walking down the village from the pub at that time."
Firefighters used an aerial ladder platform to tackle the blaze in the roofspace and converted attic room, and had brought the flames under control by around 11pm.
Mr Richmond added: "There was excellent work carried out by the fire crews to cut away the plaster board between the rafters to gain access to the fire. It was contained to the roof space and that room."
He said the blaze was most likely caused by an overheated chimney stack which led to the oak timber heating up and catching fire.
The blaze damaged the rafters and timbers in the detached two storey property.
