A COUPLE who discovered a fire in their attic were breathing a sigh of relief today after fire crews managed to stop it spreading.

Ian and Helen Garfitt, who live on a farm near Brawby and run a glass company in York, noticed smoke in their house just before 8pm yesterday.

Mr Garfitt said: “My wife was on the landing upstairs and she noticed some smoke coming out of the loft. I went up into the loft to have a look.

‘‘There was a lot of smoke and I could see glowing embers in the roof. We called the fire brigade at that point and they came very quickly indeed.”

The fire started in a chimney and spread to the joists in the roof of the house. The cause is believed to be a wood-burning stove, which transferred heat into the roof.

It was put out by 10.30pm using two pumps from Malton and an aerial platform ladder from York, which was used to inspect the chimney.

Mr Garfitt said he was very grateful to the fire brigade for saving the house. He said: “If we’d been out when that fire started, it could have been devastating.

“The chances of somebody living in one of the houses in Brawby seeing the fire in time would be very unlikely. We are very lucky we didn’t lose the whole house.”

He also said he was very impressed with the speed and efficiency of the fire service.

“The fire crews arrived very quickly, especially as we are so remote and isolated out here. The whole process of ringing them and mobilising them was as easy as it could have been.

“They stayed for two and a half hours, and fitted us with some smoke alarms, so we felt safe staying in the house overnight. Then they came back in the morning to satisfy themselves it was out.

“Apparently in older properties it can often appear that a fire has been extinguished when in fact there is still some risk,” said Mr Garfitt.