AN OXENHOPE family have spoken of their narrow escape from an intense blaze which ripped through their house early this morning. (June 9)

The fire broke out in the roof of the Maudsley family home on the moors above the village.

Phil and Julie Maudsley, their children Ben, Amber and Danielle, and Phil Maudsley's 81-year-old mother Maureen were all at home when the inferno erupted, but managed to get outside safely. 

More than 60 firefighters tackled the fire at Upper Isle Farm, with the first crew, from from Illingworth station, arriving soon after midnight.

Mr Maudsley said he and his wife were in bed when his 22-year-old son Ben alerted them to the smell of smoke.

After realising there was a fire in the attic the whole family rushed out of the house. Shortly afterwards flames started coming out of a roof skylight.

Mr Maudsley said: "If it hadn't been for Ben smelling the smoke we'd have died.

"By the time we got ourselves outside the whole thing just went up like a tinder box.

"The fire brigade did a brilliant job but the first floor is burned out and the ground floor is water damaged. We've lost everything."

The firefighters had to run hoses around a mile to the nearest hydrant during the four-hour battle to bring the blaze under control.

Some of the crews targeted water at an adjoining annexe to save it from the flames. The fire is believed to have started in the roof void.

Fire engines from Keighley, Bingley and Illingworth were initially sent to the scene but soon additional crews were summoned from Shipley, Idle, Fairweather Green, Halifax and Mytholmroyd, along with specialist appliances and officers from around the county.

Illingworth watch commander Mark Hemingway said extra appliances were needed due to the difficulty accessing water to fight the blaze.

He said: “We had to get water from the bottom of the hill, from the hydrant. It’s probably about a mile to the road.

“The fire was well-developed by the time we got there. Everyone was out of the property.

“We couldn’t go into the building because of the risk of collapse with the stone slates. We had to fight the fire from outside."

One crew was able to direct water after an aerial appliance was summoned from Halifax.

Mr Hemingway added: “We managed to protect an adjoining annexe and we tried to talk salvage as many items from the house as we could."

He said the fire was under control after about four hours.

Mr Maudsley, who runs an Accrington based mail order business, said his family are in the process of renovating a property across the valley called High Binns Farm.

He added that this property currently does not have electricity or running water.

He said: "The plan was to move from here to there, and that's still the plan, but it might just be a bit quicker."

Mrs Maudsley paid tribute to her "fantastic" neighbours who have come forward to help her family.