Firefighters spent almost eight hours battling a fire in the chimney of a home.

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service was called at 6.25pm on Tuesday, February 7 by the occupant of a property at Winkleigh stating that the chimney of the property was on fire.

One fire appliance from Chulmleigh was initially mobilised to attend but while the crew was en route there was a second call to fire control stating that the fire had spread and so a further two fire crews and an officer were sent to the incident from Hatherleigh and Okehampton. 

Shortly after the arrival of the first crew, there was a request for a fourth fire crew to be sent, which attended from North Tawton, along with a water bowser from Exeter.

Early reports were that the chimney fire involved a large open grate and that the house was heavily smoke logged.

Crews used four sets of breathing apparatus, two hose reel jets and a safety jet and a thermal imaging camera to check for hot spots.

By 8.10pm the fire was believed to be contained to an oak beam but further investigations to the rest of the property were being carried out by firefighters.

At 9.25pm the crews cut away the beam and continued to check for hotspots.

At 10.30pm the incident was downscaled to two fire crews after which a fire crew from Crediton remained on scene for some hours to maintain monitoring of the temperature of the beam and roof space until they were happy the temperatures were safe.

The crews left the scene after 2am the following morning, Wednesday, February 8.

The chimney fire involved the large open grate in a domestic property measuring approximately 10m by 8m and involved an oak beam which was severely damaged by fire.

The ground floor was 75 per cent damaged by fire and 100 per cent damaged by smoke. The first floor was 50 per cent damaged by heat and smoke.