Army crew criticised - Exclusive (From Stroud News and Journal)

Army crew criticised - Exclusive

A COUPLE were forced to tackle a blaze themselves after a Green Goddess took 45 minutes to get to them and when it did arrive its water pump wasn't working.

They also claim paratroopers refused to enter the building or try to douse the fire with buckets of water from a nearby pond.

Sam and Nikki Ogden were on their way to a party on Friday evening, when they saw smoke coming from under the floorboards in their cottage in Oakridge.

A boiler had caught fire underneath the couple's utility room so they rang the fire service.

Stroud's Green Goddess was immediately dispatched from Dudbridge and back-up requested from South Cerney but the 1950's army engine struggled to negotiate the narrow lanes and got lost trying to find the house.

Off duty police officers who knew the area eventually escorted the first Green Goddess to the out-of-the-way cottage.

"But when they got here they said they had no water supply so they disappeared, just leaving us there not knowing what to do," said Nikki.

"The boiler was very hot, it was making a funny noise and smoke was pouring out."

Mr Ogden told the army fire-fighters they could use the nearby pond to set up their portable pump but they opted to take their kit to a nearby lake in the Chalford Valley instead.

"It was very frustrating because nobody seemed to know what they were doing," said Nikki.

"While they were gone the fire started to burn and there were flames."

The couple were worried the Green Goddess which had left wouldn't get back in time so they called the fire service again to be told reinforcements were on their way from South Cerney.

However they still feared it would be too late and not prepared to wait and watch their house burn, Sam, a neighbour and the police officer who had accompanied the Green Goddess decided to tackle the fire themselves.

Sam rushed back into the house armed with buckets filled with pond water and a garden hose. "I didn't want Sam to go in," said Nikki. "I was waiting for the place to blow up."

But the trio did manage to put out the fire before the second Goddess from South Cerney turned up.

An army spokesman told the News & Journal two Green Goddesses and a Navy Breathing Apparatus Rescue Team (BART) had been sent to the incident but the first Green Goddess had a pump defect reducing its effectiveness.

"While it waited for the second to arrive from South Cerney it used an open water source to set up a light portable pump," she said.

"They are old vehicles but this could have happened to the fire service and is not unheard of."

She disputed Mrs Ogden's version of events and claimed the military had put out the blaze and had only used buckets to minimise the water damage.

But Mrs Ogden was baffled by this explanation, saying the army certainly had not put out the fire.

The army spokesman added that the delay in reaching the house was down to difficult access and maintained the military had done their job properly.

"These men are not fully-trained fire fighters," she said. "The service being provided by the military is emergency cover and as far as I'm aware we did this."

For more coverage of how the fire strikes hit Stroud, see this week's SNJ.